John 1

As I was reading John 1 today I decided to pull out some of the text that really speaks to me.  This is not an exhaustive study but rather what God is using to engage my heart today.

John, Chapter 1 (ESV)

1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2: He was in the beginning with God.
3: All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4: In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6: There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7: He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.
8: He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
9: The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
10: He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
11: He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
12: But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
13: who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
14: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15: (John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'")
16: And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
17: For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.


This reminder not only of the Deity of Jesus but also the deep reality of why He came.  He came to enlighten us.  This may sound all new age and spacey but the enlightenment is about the light that shines in the darkness.  You see Jesus exposes our darkness through His light.  His light is our only answer for the darkness of sin in our hearts.  Through this same Jesus we are given the right to become children of God!  Not just servants, not just hired hands or mute followers, but children.  We can be a part of His family.


This same Jesus brought us Grace and Truth.  Jesus by grace offers forgiveness and through Truth exposes sin and gives wisdom.  When we surrender our lives to Him we receive grace upon grace.  I am so reminded that when we repent of our sins He extends grace to us as His children.  Then He continues to extend that grace to us as His children because we are still not free from the ties to the sinful flesh of this body in this world.  Our sin is always our own to take responsibility for but PRAISE GOD we are set free from our sin to live as His children.  we no longer have to live in our sins, we receive forgiveness and the strength to move forward away from that sin.


i am reminded that God does not want some weekend children, He does not want visitation rights.  God wants you to be all His... ALL HIS ... giving part of yourself to Him was never the deal.  ALL is the deal, anything less is some form of religion and NOT what Jesus came for.


Lets live 2011 as fully surrendered children of God.

Comfort?

I have once again been reminded that the God we serve is the God of all comfort. He is the only source of comfort that will last and be true. Yet .... we are not promised to receive all the comforts you desire here on earth. Our comfort as Christians is not what our focus is supposed to be. We are called to suffer as a part of our faith. Our desire for comfort should be set aside and we need instead to seek God, asking Him to use us in all situation.

When we pray we need to change things up and stop asking for all of our desires and comforts to be taken care of. Instead we need to be dealing with our sin issues, spending time worshiping the one who forgives us and is our hope. Then we need to ask God to live through us, to use us, to make us into who He desires us to be.

Our lives are not our own, we need to live understanding that our obedience to our Savior and Lord is of the highest importance. As we take time for Sabbath rest, we should not be seeking God so that He will cater to us. Rather we should be worshiping Him and praising Him because He is worthy, we need to be reminded of the completed work of Christ and the great gift we have received.

Live a life of service and worship, everything else is secondary.

Let us ponder the important things

I would encourage you to take a moment or two to meditate on the following passage of Scripture.  Acts 10:34-48 (ESV used here) 

³⁴So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, ³⁵but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. ³⁶As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), ³⁷you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: ³⁸how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. ³⁹And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, ⁴⁰but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, ⁴¹not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴²And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

⁴⁴While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. ⁴⁵And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. ⁴⁶For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, ⁴⁷“Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” ⁴⁸And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

 The message of the Gospel is so simple and yet so full.  Ponder the forgiveness you received through Christ.  Ponder the word of the cross and the suffering He endured on your behalf.  Consider how you are to move forward to live and share this message to a lost and dying world.


A great gift has been given to you, a great price has been paid, yet we often live as though we have little or no value.  Jesus Christ paid an extreme price for you, now we are called to passionately live our lives for Him.  This message of the Gospel and what we are to do with it are the most important things for a Christian.  May your pondering drive you to obedience.


Preacherman