It’s Much More than Being Nice
A very long day, Father. There have been some great challenges, but we leave them in Your more than capable hands. All praise to You, Sovereign God!
John 13:4-17 (<<click here to read the passage)
Being nice to one another is not just something that I stress regularly to the elementary kids who ride my bus. I’ve lost count of the number of times I have said, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” I say it, but like so many other sayings of like nature, kids who say nasty things are going to say nasty things.
Unfortunately, it is a lesson many adults have never learned either. As I sit and type, I can readily think of several whom I have heard with my own ears, lash out with their mouths thinking only of themselves and not how it hurts those who hear them.
Being nice to each other keeps things going much more smoothly in our lives but is that what Jesus was trying to communicate to His disciples in verses 4-5 when He took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin? It’s much more than being “nice”.
We all pretty much realize that people who hurt other people with the words they say have greater problems than the inability to control their tongues – it is a heart issue. It is not an issue of the body but the soul. And often it is something that can only be brought under control with God’s help.
Jesus’ message of service to His disciples was far more than an outward showing of humility. He was pointing them to a dramatic change of heart and soul.
How many times had they argued over who was the greatest in the Kingdom? Matthew 18:1-4, Mark 9:33-37, and Luke 9:46-48 tell us that it was an issue with them, and Jesus set them straight…but they still hadn’t learned that lesson. The greatest were not the ones who were top-of-the-hill in God’s Kingdom but anyone who becomes as humble as a little child… Matthew 18:4 NLT
He also clearly stated at the end of Luke 9:48,
“Whoever is the least among you is the greatest.” NLT
The Ultimate Servant was pointing the way for them…and we would do well to follow, too.
Lord Jesus, we, like Your disciples, are not the speediest in taking up Your decrees. We are slow of heart. We plead that You would soften our hearts, to see as You see, to feel as You feel. May our tongues be stilled, if down in the depths of our heart, soul, and mind we have nothing nice to say. Amen.
Aug 30th, 2021, Mon, 7:32 pm
The Ulitmate Servant
Father, I am so grateful for my godly parents! I am also grateful that we had the privilege to help them with a few projects at their home this past weekend. Thank You for the multiple blessings of my family!
John 13:1-5 (<<click here to read the passage)
I started working at Kohl’s the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday!) in the year 2000. I so enjoy what I do now, but for almost two decades Kohl’s provided me with a steady income, solid benefits, and many, many friends that I cherish to this day!
When I was hired our store manager was Matt Lewis, a dedicated leader. He was firm and direct but by no means without compassion. And one leadership trait that I still hold in high regard was that, yes, he was the highest-ranking employee in the store, but no job, if it needed doing, was below him.
I can still vividly recall him coming out of the restroom with mop in hand. A toilet had overflowed, and there being no maintenance personnel on the clock, he took care of it! There was a mess, and he didn’t hesitate to clean it up. He was a leader, but he was also willing to serve. On occasion, you see that combination but many at that level of leadership would never even think about dirtying their hands in such a manner.
Truly it is incomprehensible that Jesus, the Creator-God of everything we can see and feel and hear around us, came to earth for the sole purpose of sacrificing His life in our stead. God All-powerful, All-knowing, born in the humblest of circumstances, to modest hard-working parents, lived his life amongst us. In the Father’s perfect timing He began to touch and teach those who so desperately needed to know that God, though knowing us far better than we even knew ourselves, truly cared about us and did everything within His mighty power to bring about our salvation from the ravages of sin.
The Apostle John at the beginning of this 13th chapter transitions to the week leading up to Jesus’ death. Beginning with the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. v1 The focus of His life had been loving His disciples and though they did not fully realize it at the time, He was showing God’s love, in all of His words and actions.
He was the ultimate leader an eternity before he was born and laid in that lowly manger. Verse 3 affirms that status.
Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. NLT
But regardless of that status, Jesus was simultaneously the ultimate servant. The word “So” at the beginning of verse 4, says to me that even though Jesus was of the highest authority in the universe, that it meant little to Him because the role of servant trumped it all.
So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him. v4-5 NLT
The lowliest of tasks, reserved for the lowliest of servants, He, the Son of God, took upon Himself.
Lord Jesus, may we willingly, without a second thought, give up our “crowns” and be willing to serve as we follow in Your footsteps. May nothing be below us. Amen.
Aug 29th, 2021, Sun, 7:39 pm
How Do You Respond to that Kind of Love?
It was a good day, Father. Lots of things going on but the things that needed doing got done and we are settling down for the night. We are truly grateful for Your many blessings!
John 13:1 (<<click here to read the passage)
Well, I didn’t get far in this chapter! I had only read a few verses when I decided to go back and read the notes from the previous page before reading any further. The very first note pulled me up short making me take a hard look at myself.
First, here is verse 1.
Now before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that His hour had come [and it was time] for Him to leave this world and return to the Father. Having [greatly] loved His own who were in the world, He loved them [and continuously loves them with His perfect love] to the end (eternally). AMP
Now here’s the note from my study Bible.*
Jesus knew he would be betrayed by one of his disciples, denied by another, and deserted by all of them for a time. Still he “loved them to the very end.” God knows us completely, as Jesus knew his disciples (2:24, 25; 6:64). He knows the sins we have committed and the ones we will yet commit. Still, he loves us. How do you respond to that kind of love?
Read those last couple of lines again.
It’s almost too much to take in! He knows how much we’ve hurt Him in the past – every single act of disobedience – and He knows, regardless of our repentance and the fact that we are forgiven and free from sin’s bondage, that we will hurt Him yet again…and again. Still…He loves us!
How in the world do I respond to that kind of love?
It’s difficult even thinking about it. There is not one of us that is anything close to perfect. I know I am surely not. I’ve shared before that in the past I have had the idea that my name has been erased and rewritten in the Lamb’s Book of Life so many times that I was sure that a hole had to have been worn through the page!
But as the study note said, He knows us completely, yet He still loves us!
Read through the verses mentioned in the note.
But Jesus, for His part, did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all people [and understood the superficiality and fickleness of human nature], and He did not need anyone to testify concerning man [and human nature], for He Himself knew what was in man [in their hearts—in the very core of their being]. John 2:24-25 AMP
I hate to admit it, but I’d have to raise my hand in that I am, on occasion, superficial and fickle. Yet, Jesus knowing who I am to the very core of my being chooses love!
I don’t deserve it… I can work for it… I can’t even come close to paying for it… Jesus did it all! I owed what was due for my disobedience – death! Yet He paid it in full with His own life’s blood!
Lord Jesus, how do I respond to that kind of love? I must be determined to be more diligent. I must be more stalwart in my stand against temptation and sin. And even those things I cannot do in my own strength but must call upon You. That is the only way to victory! Amen!
*Application Study Bible New Living Translation
Aug 26th, 2021, Thurs, 10:00 pm
We Can’t Be Picky
Thank You for the gift of a good day, Father. It was full but I pray through it all that we stopped and gave Your credit where credit was due. Thank You for safe travels, for positive interaction with others, for family and other loved ones are all a blessing from You.
John 12:44-50 (<<click here to read the passage)
Decisions, decisions. We have to make a lot of them. Sometimes they’re easy – maybe we have a favorite menu item that we get every time we go to that one restaurant. Or maybe we rotate between two or three things. Then there are other times, especially when we go to someplace new, that it takes us forever to decide what we want!
Recently I came across a menu for kids that were being less than cooperative in deciding what they wanted to eat. When I Googled it, several menus came up. Here is a list of what to order from a few different restaurants for several answers kids might come up with.
I Don’t Know
hot hog with fries / triple layer PB&J / breaded chicken tender with fries
I Don’t Care
grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich / macaroni & cheese
I’m Not Hungry
grilled cheese with fries / hamburger or cheeseburger with fries
I Don’t Want That
fish stick with fries / 3 mini pigs in a blanket
Like I said sometimes decisions are easy and at other times they are a bit more of a challenge. But when it comes to where we chose to spend eternity, there are only two choices…there is no third option…there is no middle ground. We may not be happy that that is the case…but it is the case.
Our kids – and ourselves, as well – may be picky here on a variety of platforms, but when it comes to our eternal choices…we can’t be picky. We can’t demand other options from which to choose.
In the middle portion of this passage from John 12, Jesus says,
I will not judge those who hear me but don’t obey me, for I have come to save the world and not to judge it. But all who reject me and my message will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken. v47-48
When Jesus came the first time around, He came as our Savior. When Jesus returns, He will come as Judge.
So, whether we like it or not we must decide.
Once again, my study Bible* shares some potent words,
The purpose of Jesus’ first mission on earth was not to judge people, but to show them the way to find salvation and eternal life. When he comes again, one of his main purposes will be to judge people for how they lived on earth. Christ’s words that we would not accept and obey will condemn us. On the day of judgment, those who accepted Jesus and lived his way will be raised to eternal life, and those who rejected Jesus and lived any way they pleased will face eternal punishment. Decide now which side you’ll be on, for the consequences of your decision last forever.
And be well aware, there will be no “I Don’t Knows”, “I Don’t Cares”, or “I Don’t Want Thats” allowed. Our decisions will have been made and that…will be that.
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
Aug 25th, 2021, Wed, 8:24 pm
We Have an Anchor
This graphic is available as a free download at https://hellosvg.com/product/theanchorholds/
Praise the Lord; praise God our savior!
….For each day he carries us in his arms. Psalm 68:19 NLT
John 12:44-50 (<<click here to read the passage)
Reading through today’s text a single word jumped out at me from the Amplified Bible. In verse 46 Jesus says,
I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes and trusts in Me [as Savior—all those who anchor their hope in Me and rely on the truth of My message] will not continue to live in darkness. John 12:46 AMP
The word that grabbed my attention was…anchor. And as I am oft want to do, my mind flashed to hymns. The first to come to mind was an old one we sang when I was growing up, I’ve Anchored in Jesus (with words and music written by Lewis E. Jones in1901). But eventually, I thought of We Have an Anchor (words by Priscilla J. Owens and music by William J. Kirkpatrick, 1882).
But before we go down that route, let’s examine a bit of application here.
I am sure that life for you, as well as I, can get quite stormy on a fairly regular basis. Struggles at work, in our homes, and in our churches, too, can leave us with the feeling that we are adrift. The winds and the waves work us over with regularity…and we cannot escape. No matter where we turn, though there may be times of peace, inevitably storms will return, and the peace will be shattered. When those times come many times all we can do is to hold on for dear life, praying that the darkness of the storm will break before we do.
But how often do we forget that we do have an anchor! If we anchor our hope in Jesus and rely on the truth of His message, we can bear up under the darkness of those storms knowing that the Light of the world is right there for us!
That is most assuredly the case, but the hymn asks these questions of us:
Will your anchor hold in the storms of life,
When the clouds unfold their wings of strife?
When the strong tides lift and the cables strain,
Will your anchor drift, or firm remain?
In turn, the refrain gives us the answer of affirmation!
We have an anchor that keeps the soul
Steadfast and sure while the billows roll,
Fastened to the Rock which cannot move,
Grounded firm and deep in the Savior’s love.
A passage from the New Testament book of Hebrews ties in perfectly here, as well.
God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise [that is God’s promise to Abraham] could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. Hebrews 6:17-19a NLT [emphasis mine]
No matter what life throughs at us we can know that when it comes to our life.
It is safely moored, ’twill the storm withstand,
For ’tis well secured by the Savior’s hand;
Though the tempest rave and the wild winds blow,
Not an angry wave shall our bark o’erflow.
Lord Jesus, thank You for the security and peace found only in You. May we diligently lay hold of You our Savior in all the many storms of life! Amen.
Aug 24th, 2021, Tues, 7:17 pm
(Here’s a link to listen to We Have an Anchor if you would like.)