1 John 4: We Have Seen and Testify

Today’s reading is 1 John 4.

No one has ever seen God. Even Moses who was granted to see a modicum of God’s glory had to be covered by God’s hand in the cleft of the rock and not actually see God. However, John declares he saw something. He saw Jesus. And Jesus lived in such a way John was convinced Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

Recall what Jesus taught the apostles on the night of His betrayal.

I am the way, and the truth, and the life…If you had known me, you would have known the Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him…Whoever has seen me has seen the Father…Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

John 14:6-7, 10-11 (ESV)

Do you wonder what kind of things would cause a monotheistic Jew to believe Jesus and 0ffer testimony is His favor? Aren’t we blessed that he provided a record. He saw water turned to wine, the blind see, the sick made well, the lame walk, the dead raised.  He listened to Jesus teach. He saw Jesus interact with opponents. He witnessed Jesus interact with friends. He observed Jesus change lives. He experienced Jesus.

His conclusion was Jesus is the Messiah. He is the Son of God. He is the Savior of the World. But notice the important point John makes. Knowing Jesus was not simply an issue of doctrinal faith. Knowing Jesus led John to know and believe the love God has for us. God is love. And John knew that because John knew Jesus. John knew that because he watched Jesus die, then he saw Him alive on the third day. No longer did John believe God loved him because He delivered Israel from Egypt. No longer did John believe God loved him because He delivered Israel from Assyrian and Babylonian captivity. He knew God loved him and all of us, because God has delivered us from death through His Son Jesus.

And this is perhaps the biggest key Christianity has going for it. Christians actually know God loves the world. Who else does? We know God loves the world because we know God sent His Son to save us. Who else has any basis for knowing God loves?

John sticks by his eye-witness testimony. But then he explains why his testimony matters. He saw the Son of God come into the world and by that, he finally learned how much God loves us.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is 1 John 4.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does 1 John 4 prompt or improve your trust in God?

John 17: Honor God by Doing His Work

Today’s reading is John 17.

A disciple honors God by worshiping Him as Jesus did in John 17. However, honoring God doesn’t end when we get up off our knees. Rather, that time spent honoring God in worship is intended not only to declare God’s glory but to transform us into people who honor God everywhere and at all times.

In fact, notice what Jesus prayed in John 17:4:

I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do (ESV).

Jesus honor and glorified God when He knelt in prayer, but He also glorified God when He got up off His knees and got busy doing God’s work. More specifically, doing the work the Father had planned for Him to do.

Notice, Jesus didn’t honor God by simply doing whatever pleased Him in the moment. He honored God by doing the work God wanted Him to do. He did that by traveling through the regions declaring the gospel of the kingdom. He did that by the miracles He worked. He did that by training the twelve. He did that by washing feet. He did that by greeting children. He did that by touching lepers. Ultimately, He did that by going to the cross.

If we want to honor God, we don’t do whatever pleases our senses. Further, if we want to honor God, we don’t just paint a veneer of God across our goals, wants, passions, and pleasures, as if merely saying Jesus’s name over an activity or work actually makes it done in Jesus’s name. Rather, we honor God by learning God’s work for us and doing it.

But how do we know God’s work for us? For that, you’ll have to come back tomorrow.

Tomorrow’s reading is John 17.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does John 18 admonish you?

John 15: You Have One Job

Today’s reading is John 15.

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser…
I am the vine; you are the branches.

John 15:1, 5 (ESV)

In Jesus’s metaphor, the vinedresser plants and waters the seed, cares for the vine, prunes the branches. The vine refers to the trunk coming from the ground. The branches refer to the tendrils draped along the trellis.

What is the branch’s job in all this? Hmmm. Good question. Exactly what is a branch of a vine good for? The Bible actually answers this question.

Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any wood, the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest? Is wood taken from it to make anything? Do people take a peg from it to hang any vessel on it? Behold, it is given to the fire for fuel. When the fire has consumed both ends of it, and the middle of it is charred, is it useful for anything? Behold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used for anything?

Ezekiel 15:2-5 (ESV)

Not a flattering picture of the vine branch, is it? The branch of the vine is pretty much useless. It can’t be used for furniture or shelter. It isn’t even used to make hanging pegs. It’s only use, by itself, is as kindling. Take vine branches with you on your next camping trip, they will help you get a good fire going. Of course, at that point, the branches are even more useless.

Now I’m a little offended. Why would Jesus remotely say my part in this picture is the useless branch? By itself, the branch is pretty much useless. However, when connected to the vine, the branch becomes a fantastic conduit for the life, strength, and nutrients of the vine to pass from one end and come out as fruit on the other.

Of course, when good fruit comes out on the ends of the branches, the farmer gets the praise and the glory. After all, the vinedresser is the one who did all the hard work. What was the branch’s job? Simple.

Abide in the vine.

That’s it. Stay connected to the vine. Don’t pull away from the vine. Dwell in the vine. Reside in the vine. Grow in the vine. If a branch abides in a strong vine and is cared for by a great vinedresser, it will bear fruit.

Understand what this means. Your job is not actually to bear fruit. You’ve got one job. Abide in the vine. Abide in Jesus. Jesus will grow the fruit. You just have to get grafted into His vine and stay there.

Where are you abiding today?

Tomorrow’s reading is John 15.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does John 15 prompt or improve your praise of God?

Psalm 106: Standing in the Breach

Today’s reading is Psalm 106.

Paul doesn’t specifically quote Psalm 106, but read the psalm and then read Romans 1 and tell me whether or not Paul had this psalm in mind.

They made a calf in Horeb
and worshiped a metal image.
They exchanged the glory of God
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
They forgot God, their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt…

Psalm 106:19-21 (ESV)

For although they knew God, the did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Romans 1:21-23 (ESV)

First, perhaps this should cause us to reassess whom we think Paul is talking about in these verses in Romans 1. Second, this will help us find Jesus in this psalm. At least, it will help us find the foreshadowing that points to Jesus.

Our psalmist goes on to say…

Therefore [God] said he would destroy them–
had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him,
to turn away his wrath from destroying them.

Psalm 106:23 (ESV)

Over and again, Israel escaped judgment because Moses interceded for them. He stood in the breach.

Then the psalm tells us about Phinehas when Israel yoked themselves to Baal at Peor.

They provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds,
and a plague broke out among them.
Then Phinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was stayed.

Psalm 106:29-30 (ESV)

Do you recall how Phinehas intervened and staid the plague? He executed the Israelite Zimri while he was committing immorality with the Midianite Cozbi (Numbers 25:10-18).

Between these two types, we see the shadow of Jesus stretching back into the events of the Old Covenant. After all, we too have exchanged the glory of God. We have all sinned and fallen short of His glory. We deserved to die. But instead, Jesus interceded on our behalf. He stood in the breach for us. Not only that, He stood in the breach, not by executing someone, but by allowing Himself to be executed. Thus, in Romans as Paul continues his argument, he says:

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person–though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die–but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:6-8 (ESV)

Jesus stood in the breach for us. Praise the Lord! Let us bow our knee before Him and confess Him Lord. Let us repent. Let us follow in His footsteps, dying to sin and being buried for the remission of our sins, raised up to walk in new life (see Romans 6:5-11). If we can help you die with Jesus Christ in baptism and rise to walk in a new life, let us know.

Next week’s reading is John 1.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

What do you want to share with others from Psalm 106?

Psalm 101: I Will Walk with Jesus

Today’s reading is Psalm 101.

As we’ve discussed Psalm 101, you may have picked up on the same dissonance I have. The psalm sounds great. What great conviction. What a great commitment. But David blew this psalm up in his own life and reign. He did not walk in integrity in his own house. Rather, in his own house he looked on Bathsheba, decided to defile her, killed her husband, and then had real struggles in his household and kingdom from that point on.

We all can sense the Psalm 101 king is the kind of king we need, the kind of king we want. For a time, David looked like he might even be that king. But he wasn’t. He fell short. This psalm leaves us looking for another. This psalm leaves us longing for the true king, the one who will not only make this commitment but live it out. We are looking for Jesus.

However, there is more. We wanted to live by these commitments in our own lives. Sure, we had to modify them to fit our own station in the family and communal life. But to the degree these principles applied to us, we wanted to live by them. But we blew this psalm up in our own lives. We did not walk in our integrity in our own house. We did not walk in our integrity on our jobs. We did not walk in our integrity in our communities. We sinned. We cheated. We lied. We stole. We slandered. We were arrogant. We set our eyes on worthless things. Our hearts became perverse.

We all can sense the Psalm 101 person is the kind of person we need to be, the kind of person we want to be. And for brief periods, we may have even pulled it off. But this psalm leaves us looking to another. This psalm leaves us longing for another. It leaves us longing for a Savior, a Deliverer. We need more than just a Judge. We need a merciful Judge. We need Jesus.

Jesus is the King who will forgive us, atone for us, raise us up, cleanse us, purify us, strengthen us. Jesus is the King we need. Let us follow Him. He will save us.

Next week’s reading is Psalm 102.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

What do you want to share with others from Psalm 101?

Psalm 85: Hanging Between Earth and Sky

Today’s reading is Psalm 85.

Our psalm does not predict the Messiah. To my knowledge, it isn’t quoted, referenced, or even alluded to in the New Testament. It’s not about the Messiah and doesn’t picture the Messiah. It doesn’t provide a type of the Messiah or a promise of the Messiah.

However, it does explain the need for the Messiah. We are sinners. We ask for forgiveness. We enjoy it. We commit to obedience. But then we sin again. What do we need? We need salvation. We need a Savior.

And while I certainly don’t want to suggest Psalm 85:11 is a reference to the Messiah, I can’t help but see a picture. Faithfulness is looking up from the ground. Righteousness is looking down from the sky. The picture is a meeting in between earth and sky. Which is precisely where Jesus hung on the cross.

God’s love and faithfulness, His righteousness and His peace all met in one place. They met in Jesus hanging on the cross between earth and sky. Faithfulness looked up. Righteousness looked down. And Jesus died. But then He rose again. And in Him we find salvation.

Praise the Lord!

Next week’s reading is Psalm 86.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

What do you want to share from Psalm 85?

God, the Son, the Son of God

Today’s reading is Hebrews 1.

I’d like to introduce you to my King, my Savior. He is more than a man, more than royalty. He is the Son of God. He is the messenger through whom God is speaking to the world in these last days. However, he is more than a man who is connected to God. He is God.

He is heir of all things because He is the creator of all things. He is the radiance and shining splendor of God’s glory. He is the exact imprint of God’s nature. He holds the universe together by the word of His power. He has made purification for my sins. He sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

This is my King, my Savior. We know Him by the name Jesus. He is the Son of God. More than that, He is God the Son. Why would anyone want to serve anyone else?

If you have already given Him your allegiance, bask in the glory of His kingdom and reign. If you haven’t, can I invite you to give Him your allegiance today? If you would like to serve Him too, let me know in the comments below.

Today’s reading is Hebrews 1.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

Discuss the Following Questions with Your Family

1. What are your initial reactions to the chapter and the written devo above?
2. Why are you glad Jesus is the Savior and King?
3. What does it mean to give allegiance to Jesus?
4. How can we demonstrate allegiance to Jesus, the Son of God, God the Son today?
5. What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this chapter and today’s post?

It is Enough to be Like Our Teacher

Today’s reading is Matthew 10.

We often talk about becoming like our Teacher. In fact, over the past month or so, I’ve preached a series about discipleship anchored in the idea that discipleship means being trained to be like the Good Teacher. Because of that, we might actually read right through what Jesus is saying in Matthew 10:24-25 without getting the actual point.

In this passage, Jesus isn’t saying it is enough to honor God, learn from God, love like God, lead others to God in the same way Jesus does. He isn’t saying, it is enough for one of His disciples to begin to teach the same things He teaches, to do the same things He does, to act the same way He acts, to treat other people the same way He treats other people. Jesus is saying it is enough for His disciples to endure the same things He endured.

He is telling the apostles and those who will walk in their footsteps for all of time that we will be persecuted. In fact, His point is that if our discipleship, our Christianity, doesn’t lead to the same kinds of reactions from people Jesus faced, then we’re probably doing it wrong.

Consider this, they accused Jesus of acting by the power of the prince of demons, of being Beelzebul. How can we expect the very same people, the very same kinds of people, to think we are angels of light? If people who didn’t actually like Jesus and what He said, like us and what we say, chances are we are doing it wrong.

Jesus went to a cross. We must not be surprised when we go there as well. I get it, this doesn’t seem to be the greatest recruitment speech ever. But whoever said anything worth doing was easy. Jesus is our King, our Savior, let us follow Him through thick and thin, through peace and war, through joy and suffering. He went through the cross for us. Let us go through the cross for Him.

Tomorrow’s reading is Matthew 10.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

Discuss the Following Questions with Your Family

1. What are your initial reactions to the chapter and the written devo above?
2. Why will people who didn’t like Jesus not like us?
3. Why is that hard to face?
4. What advice would you give to others to stay true to Jesus no matter how people react to us?
5. What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this chapter and today’s post?

I’m the Nail

Today’s reading is Psalm 22.

If the victim in this psalm is ultimately Jesus, who is ultimately the victimizer? I leave that question with you and the answer in the form of a poem I read while studying this psalm:

To have been the cup
His lips touched and blessed,
To have been the bread
Which He broke;
To have been the cloth
He held as He served,
Or water He poured
As He spoke.

To have been the road
He walked on the Way,
To have been His print
in the sand;
To have been the door
That opened the tomb,
But I was a nail
In His hand.

“Remorse” by Sue Fife*

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 22.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes and listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier that expands on this post!

The Crucified Savior

Today’s reading is Psalm 22.

We find ourselves in the exact same position with Psalm 22 as with so many others. David is making extraordinary claims for himself and for his own life. Yet, as we apply them to David’s life, we have to see them as figurative, poetic, hyperbole. There was never a point in David’s life in which everyone mocked him or wagged their heads at him. There was never a point in David’s life in which he was so personally close to death he was dehydrated, emaciated, dealing with heart failure. At least, not one we can find in the record. At the same time, there was no victory David experienced that caused the ends of the earth to worship the Lord. And yet there is One about whom this psalm can be taken much more literally. I don’t say completely literally because the bulls, lions, and dogs are all still figures of speech even in the life of Jesus. And in case we might miss it, the New Testament authors make sure we see it. Psalm 22 is one of the most quoted psalms (if not the most quoted) in the New Testament in reference to Jesus. Jesus Himself quotes it on the cross in Matthew 27:46. But let’s understand how truly profound Psalm 22 is as a prophecy of Jesus. It is not merely the record of one saying, “Some day, in the future, there will be a guy who goes through this.” This is not Jesus merely fulfilling a foretelling of events. This is Jesus fulfilling the very life of David. It wasn’t merely David’s words that pointed to Jesus, David’s life pointed to Jesus. In fact, notice that David demonstrates, in his faith in Psalm 22:3-5, that he was walking in the footsteps of the fathers, the entire nation of Israel. Jesus is not merely fulfilling a prophecy, He is fulfilling the very history of Israel. He is on that cross dying the death that Israel, that in fact the whole world, deserved. The difference is whenever Israel would cry out a statement like Psalm 22:1, it was because of their own sins. When Jesus cried it out, it was because of ours. And because He did, we can experience vs. 21: “You have answered me!” Praise the Lord!!!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 22.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier that expands on this post!