July 4, 2013 - John 1:23

            John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”  John 1:23

            John the Baptist was a man of conviction, who lived a life that was consistent with the message he preached.  If he told the people to repent and turn from their evil ways, he first required the same of himself.  If he called people to make straight the way of the Lord in their lives, he demanded the same in his own life.  John did not ask anything of anyone else that he didn’t ask of himself.  He spoke these words from the prophet, Isaiah, with full integrity and conviction, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.”

            When I consider the area of integrity in my life, I tend to be very hard on myself.  It’s hard for me to challenge others to make straight the path in their life if I’m not making my own way straight.  I feel so hypocritical if I say one thing to others yet am not walking it out in my own life.  The issue of personal character and integrity was vitally important to John the Baptist, and it is the same with me.  How about with you?

            Questions to consider: What does the term integrity mean to you?  Do you say one thing and do another, or require one standard for others and another for yourself?  Do you say to people only those things that you have already told yourself?

            Prayer: Father, help me to live a consistent life of integrity regardless of what the world throws at me.  Give me clarity of vision to keep my eyes on You and to “Make straight the way” for You to move in and through my life.  Amen.

June 13, 2013 - John 1:18

            No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.  John 1:18

            Jesus, the One and Only God referred to in this verse, is the One who made God, the Father, known to the people around Him.  Because He came from being in the Father’s presence and then returned there, Jesus is the Only One to have ever seen God.  Jesus knew what the Father looked like, and He spoke with authority about His Heavenly Father because He knew Him, had heard His voice, and had been with Him.  There was intimacy in Their relationship.

            I readily admit that it has been a struggle for me, as I have longed to experience having a deeper sense of intimacy with God.  Unlike Jesus, I didn’t come from the Father’s presence in the same way that He did.  I don’t know what He looks like, for I have never seen Him.  And I don’t really hear Him speak to me in the same way that I hear my wife or children.  The way that I hear Him and the way that He becomes present and known to me is through the Bible, which is the assembly of the holy writings of many men over 1500 years and three continents.  It is through this collection of writings that I sense the Holy Spirit of God speaking to me and giving me a sense of who God, the Father, is.

            Questions to consider: Has the Father made Himself known to you?  If so, how does that happen in your life?  How intimate do you think Jesus was with God?  Do you struggle with intimacy with God?  Is there anything that Jesus did to be intimate with His Father that you could try to do?

            Prayer: Father, sometimes it’s difficult for me to be intimate with You, because I don’t see You or know that You hear me.   I believe, yet help my unbelief.  Draw me into Your presence and help me to be aware of You throughout my day.  Amen.

June 6, 2013 - John 1:17

            For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  John 1:17

            It seems to me that this verse encapsulates the difference between religion and being a follower of Jesus.  In religion, humans do whatever they can to reach God through their own efforts.  This is exemplified by people attempting to reach God by trying to fulfill the requirements of the Law of Moses.  The grace and truth that came from God through Jesus was God’s free offer to all humans to enter into a new, restored relationship with God.  It had nothing to do with our efforts or actions.  Living by the grace and truth of God was not a result of anything we could do for ourselves.  Religion, in all of its manifestations, including religious forms of Christianity, is merely human effort to reach God; the grace and truth that came through Jesus Christ is God’s effort to reach and to reconcile humanity to Himself.

            On a personal level, I am challenged to not get seduced into thinking that there are things or actions I can do on my own to earn me the right to enter into the presence of God.  It is easy for me to imagine that, if only I did certain things or did a certain number of good things, I would be allowed into His presence.  Usually I can tell when I am thinking this way, because I get anxious or irritable and I lack the internal peace that He gives.  It is only when I humble myself and follow what I sense to be the leading of the Holy Spirit, that I enter into a place where I can hear God’s quiet whisper and can follow His leading.

            Questions to consider: Is there a difference between the Law of Moses and the grace and truth of Jesus Christ?  If so, what is it?  How does it impact your life?  Do you struggle trying to work your way into God’s presence?  How are you able to enter His presence?

            Prayer: Father, thank You for Your grace and truth given to us in Jesus.  Help me to open my arms to You in order to receive what You have for me.  Amen.

May 30, 2013 - John 1:16

            From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another.  John 1:16 

            John, who was an eye-witness disciple of Jesus, wrote this account of the life of Jesus to a church that was alive, yet struggling under persecution.  Oppression and hardship was a regular part of life.  In this verse, John is talking about a Presence that all the believers in Jesus of his day had within.  It was this fullness of His grace that indwelt each follower.  In the light of the violence they faced, having His grace and presence was truly a blessing, one after another!  It is hard for us to get our minds around the blessing that this must have been to them because of the dramatic difference they experienced in comparison to the relative peace and freedom that we have in our daily lives.  These blessings were even more significant to these early followers of Jesus than they are for us today.

            Oftentimes when I think of the blessings that I have received, I get wrapped up in things, like a house to shelter me, food to feed me, a car to transport me, and a TV on which to watch ESPN.  Or I think of health issues, job issues, relationship issues, and so forth.  It is usually all about ME, or if I’m really “selfless”, it’s about WE – me, my wife and kids, and family, but…it’s, still, all about me – and neither about He Himself, or the blessings of the peace that comes from His presence within.  It is my hope that my life becomes less about me and more about Him and the fullness of His grace working within men and through me.

            Questions to consider: What does it mean for you to receive “the fullness of His grace?”  What does it mean to receive “one blessing after another?”  How is your experience similar to those early followers of Jesus?  How is it different?  How does this apply to your life?

            Prayer: Father, help me to not get so wrapped up in how I can be blessed by You, but instead how I can be a blessing for You.  Help me to experience what it means to walk in “the fullness of (Your) grace.  Amen.

May 23, 2013 - John 1:14

            The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.  We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.  John 1:14

            In the first section of his account of the life of Jesus, John gives us a manifesto of God’s invasion, in which He begins the reclamation of His territory. Verse 14 is the declaration of His kingdom come to earth.  The Word became flesh in Jesus, and the glory of God became human and lived with us.  Jesus was from the Father, and He was full of grace and full of truth. 

            Grace without truth is, as I’ve heard it stated, “sloppy agape”, and truth without grace is cruel and harsh.  It’s necessary to have both working in concert with the other.  This is true whether on a large, macro scale, such as considering how the worldwide Church functions, or on a personal scale, as in how I treat the people who live next door.

            I have done both grace and truth, each, on their own.  When I was full of grace but limited truth, I accepted any behavior or action without judgment, and when I was full of truth but very little grace, I became very critical and judgmental about various behaviors.  My struggle is to have the two – grace and truth – in balance.  I have much to learn from Jesus’ example of being “from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

            Questions to consider: Do you tend to lean towards being full of grace or of truth?  How do you move towards having grace and truth in balance?  Is this something that we, humans, can do on our own, or does it take power from on high?  Why is that?

            Prayer: Father, I struggle to have grace and truth in balance with one another, as Jesus modeled this for us.  Please help me and strengthen me to bring this into balance.  Amen.