Reading Through John Devotionals – Week 12
See all Devotionals: https://graceforohio.org/category/reading-through-john-devotionals/
Day 78
7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
I’m a big fan of useless trivia. So much so that I have the The Book of Useless Information on a table in my office. My favorite piece of useless information is that US Route 62 is the only East-West Highway that touches both the Canadian and Mexican borders of the United States. Is that something you need to know? No. Is it a neat factoid? Debatable. Not all knowledge is created equal. Do you need to know all of the Presidents in order? No. Should you have the multiplication table memorized? Yes.
Jesus gives Phillip a necessary piece of knowledge in verse 9, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father”. Jesus is telling Phillip that He IS God. He has all of the traits of God, and He is God in flesh. Jesus is telling Phillip that He has authority and power. Jesus is giving Phillip the knowledge that can change his life!
Question of the Day: Are you proclaiming this knowledge to your friends and neighbors that need it?
Day 79
10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Have you ever believed something with your whole heart that ended up being completely false? For the last 40 years I have believed that one day the Cleveland Browns will win the Super Bowl. The whole world knows this is never going to happen. Yet I believe. 40 years of history tells me I’m wrong, but I’m unfortunately a fan. So I believe a lie.
Jesus is telling Phillip to believe in Him. Look at what He says in verse 11: “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.” Jesus is pointing Phillip to trust and believe in Him. Jesus is leaning on His personal relationship with His disciples. He is also pointing to evidence of His past miracles as proof of who He is. Jesus is telling the disciples to hear His Words and look at His miracles as a source of belief. Jesus can be trusted because of His works and His testimony.
Question of the Day: Is the belief that Jesus changes lives changing your life?
Day 80
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
I can only imagine what it was like to be my parents. I was a pretty obnoxious kid, and thought I was always right. I thought my decisions were always the right decisions… even if those were not my parent’s decisions. So, needless to say, I did not always keep my parents commands. It was hard for them to watch me make the mistakes that I made growing up.
Jesus makes an important statement in verse 15, “If you love me, keep my commands.” If we love Jesus we cannot make the same mistakes that I made growing up. We have to listen to Him. He showed the ultimate form of love for us with His sacrifice on the cross. He deserves our love. Jesus provides the way to reconcile people with God. That is Love. Jesus is God, and He has made His commandments clear in the Bible. We need to keep these commandments. Even when we don’t want to. Even when it’s hard. Even when it pushes us to grow when we don’t want to grow. Keep His commandments!
Question of the Day: Are there any commandments that you are putting off keeping?
Day 81
18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
My friends adopted their son a few years ago. They invited me to the legal proceedings where he officially became their son. It was a very powerful ceremony where he legally became their son. The judge looked at my friend and said “It is as if your adopted son is your own blood.” He received a new last name that day, an official new family, and a new inheritance for his life.
Jesus is telling the disciples in verse 18 that He will adopt them into the Kingdom. “ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” Jesus came to earth to provide the sacrifice to reconcile people to the Father. His death, burial, and resurrection provide salvation if we put our faith and trust in Him. We become Children of God and receive an inheritance with our Heavenly Father. We are given a new future, a guaranteed salvation, and an eternal, heavenly future. Life can truly begin when we go from Orphans to Children of God.
Question of the Day: As a Christian have you embraced your new inheritance?
Day 82
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
Obedience with Biblical teaching is an often overlooked and assumed part of the Christian experience. My son is getting older and wanting to achieve goals in his athletic endeavors. He loves basketball, and I have the opportunity to coach him through some growth. Part of coaching is modeling a skill or drill, and then helping him walk through the drill and learn how to do it correctly. My job as his coach is to help put him into a position to grow. He has to listen to constructive criticism and do the drills correctly to grow his skills. We have a great father/son relationship so he listens to me. He loves me and loves basketball and those two facts intersect in our relationship.
Jesus states in verse 23, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” Jesus loved us enough to sacrifice himself, die a death He didn’t have to die, and provide an atonement to cover the sins of the world. He accomplished this for us! Jesus is proven; His testimony is true and His work is perfect. He is completely deserving of our love. Jesus is stating in this verse that loving Him is following His commands and teaching. Loving Jesus means following the way that He lived His life. Is this hard? Absolutely. Is it worth it? One hundred percent. Take Jesus’ words to heart and live them out in your day to day.
Question of the Day: What areas of your life can you follow Jesus more?
Day 83
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
I was a big cartoon fan growing up in the 80’s. I liked laughing, and I really enjoyed all of the different Looney Tunes cartoons. One of my favorite parts of these cartoons was when a character had to make a decision and would have a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. It was up to the character to choose which voice they wanted to listen to. They usually listened to the devil’s voice, and that decision would end with bad, often comedic, results.
The Holy Spirit acts like the smart/wise voice in our minds. He is the voice that is giving the advice in our minds that we should follow. Jesus says in verse 26 that “will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” I am so thankful for the ministry that the Holy Spirit has in the life of the Christ follower. One of the keys for you and I as we navigate the Christian life is to be open to the Holy Spirit and the wisdom He has to influence our lives. I am always worse off when I wall off myself from His guidance. I need daily Biblical teaching and daily reminders of Christ in my life. That’s what the Holy Spirit is living inside of me to do! What a blessing!
Question of the Day: Have you kept any part of yourself from the Holy Spirit?
Day 84
28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me. “Come now; let us leave.”
Have you ever read the Left Behind books? These were a series of books that attempted to tell a narrative story about what happened to fictional characters during the 7-year tribulation. They were interesting books, and the authors’ own ideas about the events leading to the Second Coming of Christ bled into the text of the books. The climax of the books is the Second Coming. We, as Christians, also have the Second Coming of Jesus to look forward to as well.
What a powerful promise that Jesus gives us in verse 28, “I am going away and I am coming back to you.” He is informing the disciples in this verse of a few things. He’s leaving. He’s referencing His death, resurrection, and ascension 40 days later. He’s staying alive but Jesus is not going to continue to be on the Earth. 2000 years later we see that Jesus still has not returned a second time. Here’s the promise… Jesus is coming back. When He comes back, it will be as a triumphant King. The prince of the world (Satan) is going to lose; Jesus wins!
This promise should change the way we live today.
Question of the Day: Is Jesus’ Second Coming something that you are thinking about today?
Day 78-84 Provided by Grace Church.
See all Devotionals: https://graceforohio.org/category/reading-through-john-devotionals/