LookingtoJesus

January 30

Bible Reading: John 5:1-17

John 5:15, “The man went away, and informed the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.”

This account of the healing of the lame beggar is a lifelong favorite of John Eareckson Tada.  Joni is a well-known author, speaker, and international advocate for people with disabilities.  A diving accident in 1967 left Joni a quadriplegic.  Following years of rehabilitation, she emerged with a fresh determination to serve others.  Her “Joni and Friends” ministry provides programs for those with special needs and training for churches worldwide.  Joni has written 45 books.  But following her accident, no one, including Joni, could have imagined how God would work to make all that happen!

After suffering her paralyzing injury as a teenager, Joni desperately wanted to be healed.  When friends would visit her hospital room, she would ask for them to read from John chapter 5 about the man lying by the pool.  She yearned for God to do for her what Jesus had done for the lame beggar. Her sister took her to a healing conference in Washington D.C., but to her bitter disappointment, no genuine healing took place.  Discouraged and distraught, she harbored a bitter spirit.  Eventually she cried out to Jesus for help, and experienced in salvation a deeper healing, a healing from sin. 

For decades since Joni has testified to Jesus’ ability to grant such a healing to those who look to Him.  She has said, “Don’t be thinking that for me in heaven the big thing will be to get my new body…I want a glorified heart (i.e., perfectly healed from sin).” 

On a visit to Jerusalem not too many years ago, Joni personally went to the pool at Bethesda, the place where the lame beggar was healed.  She leaned there on the guardrail of the old ruins.  While there alone speaking to Jesus, she said, “Oh Jesus, thank you for a no request for physical healing, because the no answer to a request for physical healing has worked to purge my heart from sin.”

My wife, Laura, has been fighting her battle with cancer for seven years. Regularly, I visit hospice patients who’ve been told they’ve but days or months to live. They’d all love to be healed of their physical infirmities! But how good it is to know that Jesus can heal us in another way! He can forgive us and transform us and assure us of a home in heaven. That deeper healing is of eternal benefit! Has Jesus healed you that way?

There is a wonderful video of Joni’s testimony posted on YouTube.  I’ve shared it many times.  Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/NI22o5u32z0?feature=shared

PASS ME NOT
Pass me not, O gentle Savior,
Hear my humble cry,
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.

Refrain:
Savior, Savior,
Hear my humble cry;
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.

Let me at a throne of mercy
Find a sweet relief;
Kneeling there in deep contrition,
Help my unbelief. [Refrain]

Trusting only in Thy merit,
Would I seek Thy face;
Heal my wounded, broken spirit,
Save me by Thy grace. [Refrain]

Thou the Spring of all my comfort,
More than life to me,
Whom have I on earth beside Thee?
Whom in heav’n but Thee? [Refrain]

January 29

Bible Reading: John 5:1-17

John 5:6, “Do you want to get well?” (NASB)

“Do you want to get well?”  What kind of question is that to ask of an invalid?   But that’s exactly what Jesus asked the man lying beside the pool.

The man had been an invalid for 38 years.  He suffered from paralysis and was completely alone and helpless.  He joined a multitude of other desperate souls waiting there—blind, lame, and paralyzed.  Some manuscripts insert the following explanation: “waiting for the moving of the water for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred the water: whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had” (John 5:4). Apparently, there was some kind of superstition regarding the healing powers of that pool. 

So, in the Bethesda pool “lottery” the first one into the water won. The prize was for the swift or those invalids having friends who would help them get there first. But this man had no one to help him. When the water was stirred up, and while he was going, another stepped down before him (John 5:7). The man had been an invalid for nearly four decades. Jesus saw the man and “that he had already been there a long time” (John 5:6). And Jesus said to him, “Do you want to be healed” (John 5:6)?

Every human malady is rooted in original sin, although not every sickness or malady directly results from sin.  No descendant of Adam is untouched in life by the grievous consequences of the curse.  And in response, man is prone to look to all kinds of supposed solutions for deliverance.

“Do you wish to get well?”  There is a sense in which God asks that question of us all.  In response to our sin problem, we look to a variety of solutions and rationalize or excuse our sin-sourced infirmities with an array of explanations.  A multitude of the spiritually paralyzed gather at the “pool” of superstitious and humanistic solutions to man’s besetting ills.  But if we do want to get well—regarding being cured from sin—Jesus stands ready to heal us!

Jesus healed the man—compassionately, instantly, and perfectly.  Without an angel’s help.  He required no “stirred up” waters.  He told the man to “get up, take up, and walk,” and that’s what the man immediately did (John 5:8-9).  Jesus can do the same with the sin-paralyzed (Ephesians 2:1).  He is willing and able to forgive, cleanse, and re-birth them so that they might walk “in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).  It matters not if they’ve been a spiritual invalid for many years or few.  He alone can heal us “from all our soul’s diseases.”

Only Jesus can give wholeness to a broken life.

NO, NOT ONE
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus–
No, not one! no, not one!
None else could heal all our soul’s diseases–
No, not one! no, not one!

Refrain:
Jesus knows all about our struggles,
He will guide till the day is done;
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus–
No, not one! no, not one!

No friend like Him is so high and holy–
No, not one! no, not one!
And yet no friend is so meek and lowly–
No, not one! no, not one! [Refrain]

There’s not an hour that He is not near us –
No, not one! no, not one!
No night so dark but His love can cheer us–
No, not one! no, not one! [Refrain]

Was e’er a gift like the Savior given?
No, not one! no, not one!
Will He refuse us a home in heaven?
No, not one! no, not one! [Refrain]

January 26

Bible Reading: John 4:46-54

John 4:50, “Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your son will live.’ The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.”

C. S. Lewis wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”  Troubles have a way of sending us to Christ.  I’ve certainly witnessed that reality in my work with hospice.  And such was the case here with the nobleman. 

Nothing works to cause greater distress than an ill child.  The nobleman’s son was ill to the point of death.  He had heard that Jesus had come to the region, so he went to Jesus and asked for His help.  He did what we all should do when confronted with troubles, be they big or small, take them to Jesus (1 Peter 5:7).

In response to the desperate plea of the nobleman, Jesus healed his son.  Jesus did that without meeting the child and receiving no explanation regarding the boy’s symptoms.  He instantly diagnosed and treated the child, and healed him from a distance, testifying to the truth that He is the Son of God.

Note how the nobleman responded to Jesus’ promise. He “believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way” (John 4:50). He did as true faith does. It leaves the matter with Jesus to take care of and goes on its way. It would not have been easy for the man. One would imagine how doubts could have crept in. But still, he took Jesus at his word, trusting Jesus, until faith gave way to the sight of his healed son.

We sometimes pray about a trouble, giving it to Jesus to deal with it, only to borrow it back again. Despite our desire for an immediate answer, true faith entrusts the matter to God even when, seemingly, no change is happening. We do well to follow this man’s example. What big problem are you facing even now? Cast it upon the Lord and leave it behind for Him to deal with. He knows. He cares. And He is able!

“Faith is not a sense, nor sight, nor reason, but a taking God at His Word.” — Faith Evans.

TRUSTING JESUS
Simply trusting every day,
Trusting through a stormy way;
Even when my faith is small,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

Refrain:
Trusting as the moments fly,
Trusting as the days go by;
Trusting Him whate’er befall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

Brightly doth His Spirit shine
Into this poor heart of mine;
While He leads I cannot fall;
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
Singing if my way is clear,
Praying if the path be drear;
If in danger for Him call;
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

Trusting Him while life shall last,
Trusting Him till earth be past;
Till within the jasper wall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

January 25

Bible Reading: John 4:27-45

John 4:28-30, “So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?’ They went out of the town and were coming to him.”

John 4:39-41, “Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me all that I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.’”

Having attended and taught courses on evangelism, I realized long ago that the most common obstacle to our witnessing efforts is fear. Fear of not knowing what to say or fear of what others might think. With that in mind, let the example of the woman at the well encourage you.

It was a life-changing experience. He unveiled truth to her, about herself, telling her “all (she) ever did” (John 4:29) and about Himself, divulging His identity as the Messiah (John 4:26). She had gone to the well to get water, but she found in Jesus the living water which worked to quench her God-thirsty soul. She was so eager to share the truth about what she’d found that she left for town, leaving behind her water pot. One of the first instincts of a newly saved person is to share their experience with others.

She had a sordid past, lacked any training, and carried no gospel tracts, but what she had was a heart to tell others about Jesus. Her experience reminds us of Peter and John, and their bold declaration before the religious leaders, “we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20).

It is as Steven Cole has explained: “If you’re anything like me, you struggle at being an effective witness for Jesus Christ. I’ve prayed about it for decades, I’ve read many books, gone to different training seminars, and even taken a seminary class in evangelism, but still I often fail at being a good witness. An hour or two after an opportunity, I think, ‘I should have said such and such,’ but I didn’t think of it at the time. Our text gives us some help in being the kind of witness that God uses from an unlikely source: A woman who is a brand-new convert, who is still living with a man outside of marriage, who knows almost no sound doctrine, and who has not had a training course in how to share her faith. Yet she effectively evangelizes her entire village for Christ!”

Steven Cole

How’s your witness?  There are undoubtedly people in your life that need to hear about the wonderful truth you now possess in your relationship with Jesus.  Ask God to open doors and embolden you, then go and tell others to come and see!

When it comes to your witnessing efforts, it’s not how much you know but Who you know and how much you want others to know Him!

COME AND SEE
Jesus! dear name, how sweet it sounds!
Replete with balm for all our wounds:
His Word declares His grace is free,
Come, needy sinner, Come and see.

He left the shining courts on high,
Came to our world to bleed and die;
Jesus the Lord hung on a tree,
Come, thoughtless sinner, Come and see.

Your sins did pierce His bleeding heart,
Till death had done its dreadful part;
His boundless love extends to thee,
Come, trembling sinner, Come and see.

His blood can cleanse the foulest stain,
Can make the vilest sinner clean;
This fountain open stands for thee,
Come, guilty sinner, Come and see.

January 24

Bible Reading: John 4:16-26

John 4:24, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Where and how is a person to worship God? Is worship constrained to a particular place? Are we free to worship in any way that we choose? Having perceived Jesus to be a prophet (though He revealed to her He was, in fact, the Messiah, John 4:26), the woman at the well determined to settle an important theological question. A question which was at the heart of the ages old dispute between the Jews and Samaritans. What mountain is God to be worshipped on?

That question opened the door for an explanation that has universal relevance, as Jesus set forth the terms for acceptable worship — “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:25).

The English term “worship” has its origins in the Old English term “worthship.” “Worthship” speaks of an object’s worth and a response to that.  Worship is not ascribing worth to God, for He is worthy whether or not we do that.  Worship recognizes the “worth” that God already possesses.  Simply put, worship is acknowledging God for who He is and what He does in what we say and what we do.  Acceptable worship must be “in spirit and truth.”

Those who worship him must worship “in spirit.”  Acceptable worship is only possible for those who have been born of the Spirit.  An unsaved person has no heart for worship (Colossians 1:21).  To worship God, who is spirit, a person must be forgiven and born of the Spirit.  In addition, acceptable worship is that which is “in truth.”  We are not free to worship God any way we choose.  We can neither know God as He is nor know what he expects, apart from the truth.  It is as the Spirit of God applies the truth of God’s Word to the heart that we are led to worship God in an acceptable way.

Ephesians 5:18-19 and Colossians 3:16-17 are great texts on this theme.  Both speak similarly to what worship looks like in the life of the believer, but each traces the source of worship back to a different dynamic.  In Ephesians 5:18, we learn that worship overflows the heart of those who are being kept filled with the Spirit.  But according to Colossians 3:16, it is as the Word of Christ richly indwells us that the worship of God is the result.  Worship must be “in spirit and truth!”

We don’t need to seek a sanctuary or monastery or any other sacred place to worship God.  We can worship wherever we are and should worship Him at all times in whatever we are doing (1 Corinthians 10:31).  How’s your worship?  Are you walking by the Spirit?  Is the Word of Christ richly indwelling you?  These are the keys to acceptable worship!

“True worship does not consist of mere outward conformity to religious standards and duties, but emanates from the inner spirit. It must also be consistent with the truth God has revealed about Himself in His Word.” – John MacArthur

O FOR A HEART TO PRAISE MY GOD
O for a heart to praise my God,
a heart from sin set free;
a heart that’s sprinkled with the blood
so freely shed for me:

A heart resigned, submissive, meek,
my great Redeemer’s throne;
where only Christ is heard to speak,
where Jesus reigns alone:

A humble, lowly, contrite heart,
believing, true, and clean,
which neither life nor death can part
from him that dwells within:

A heart in every thought renewed,
and full of love divine;
perfect and right and pure and good —
a copy, Lord, of thine.

Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart,
come quickly from above;
write thy new name upon my heart,
thy new best name of Love.

I posted this ten years ago on Facebook. It was such a fun experience I thought I’d repost it here:

My friend Bubs texted me yesterday: “You better go fishing. I had a dream last night that the Klatskanine was full of fish.” Not being sure how much stock to put in Bubba’s dream, I replied that I was thinking about it. I haven’t been fishing for a while—the rivers are low due to lack of rain and the steelhead return isn’t very good.

Then I got up this morning. Did my devotions. Checked out facebook. On facebook my Uncle Frank had posted another picture of a guy with a fish. He’s been doing that a lot lately. I’m thinking that maybe he needs and wants to go fishing. On the other hand, perhaps it was meant to be an encouragement to me to go.

While contemplating that, I got a text message from my Uncle Bob: “I oakusaba Katonda mulungi on your behalf.” I’m concerned for my Uncle Bob. He loves his Ugandan friends so much that now he is speaking and praying in Lugandan. I hope that he’s not preaching in Lugandan! At any rate–I asked him for the meaning of the words (cause I only recognized the word “Katonda”) and he said that it meant: “I prayed to the God who is good on your behalf.” But he’s not that good at Lugandan, so I think he might have prayed: “Lord help Jerry to catch a steelhead today.”

Bolstered with the encouragement of Bubba’s dream, Frank’s pictures, and Bob’s prayer I headed off to go fishing. Got to the river. What a beautiful morning! How pleasant the sound of the water tumbling over the rocks. How beautiful the blue sky set against the trees and the river coursing through the middle of it all! Bubba dreamt that the river was full of fish. Time to check it out. First hole—water’s too low, no fish. Second hole—couple of casts with a spinner—nada. Third hole–what a beautiful fishing hole! My friend, John, turned a fish in this hole last week. Surely I’ll get one here. Nada. Fourth hole. No fish.

What about Bubba’s dream, Frank’s pictures, and Bob’s prayer (even in a foreign language)? One more hole to try. Bad cast. Should have hit the current. Oh well, I’ll leave it there for a moment to see what happens. Something’s grabbing my bait—looks like it might be trout. No, it’s a steelhead! Set the hook. Fish on. It’s a bright fish. “Don’t lose it,” I said to myself. Banked it. Bonked it. Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Bubba, Frank, Bob. I know, it’s just a fish. But I’m thinking there’s more to the story. It was a collaborative effort.

January 23

Bible Reading: John 4:13-15

John 4:13-15, “Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.’”

She no doubt felt dissatisfied with life.  She’d been married five times, and the one she was now with was not her husband. That adds up to a lot of heartbreak and disappointment. Sin deceitfully promises fulfillment in a lustful pursuit of some kind.  But instead leads us down a dead-end path full of sorrow and regret (Hebrews 11:25).  She had had a lot of partners, and there was a reason.  But Jesus knew all about that.  He was aware of all her misguided attempts to find soul satisfaction in the passing pleasures of sin.  Her soul needed something better.  Jesus came to her for that very reason.      

The conversation between Jesus and the woman and the well was all about water.  He asked for water.  He then offered to her His living water that would work to satisfy her thirsty soul (John 4:13-14).

According to the rule of “Threes,” a man can live for three minutes without oxygen, three days without water, and three weeks without food.  Regular consumption of H²O is essential to a person’s physical health.  However, there is no kind of physical water that can forever quench a person’s thirst.  It is therefore necessary to drink again.  What is true in the physical realm holds true in the spiritual.  We are born with a thirst for God that no man-devised way can fully satisfy (Jeremiah 2:13).  It is as St. Augustine once says, “For you made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.”

Jesus offered living water to her, living water that would forever satisfy her deepest longings and become in her “a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). On a later date, He would stand before a multitude and offer His living water to them all (John 7:37-38). Who doesn’t thirst? Life can leave us parched of soul, but Jesus invites us to come and satiate our soul needs in Him. The invitation is to “whoever” — religious and irreligious, men and women, Jew, Samaritan, Gentile, rich men and poor—no matter their present estate, they can have their soul needs fully met in Him. He is a “fountain of living water” to those who trust in Him (Jeremiah 2:13; Revelation 22:1). She went to the well to get water. Jesus found her there, and in Him she discovered life both eternal and abundant (John 4:39-42, 10:10). Jesus alone can satisfy the deepest longings of our souls.

The world offers a stagnant cistern. Jesus offers a satisfying well.

FILL MY CUP, LORD
Like the woman at the well, I was seeking
For things that could not satisfy.
And then I heard my Savior speaking—
“Draw from My well that never shall run dry.”

Refrain:
Fill my cup, Lord; I lift it up Lord;
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul.
Bread of Heaven, feed me till I want no more.
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole.

There are millions in this world who are seeking
For pleasures earthly goods afford.
But none can match the wondrous treasure
That I find in Jesus Christ my Lord. [Refrain]

So my brother if the things that this world gives you
Leave hungers that won’t pass away,
My blessed Lord will come and save you
If you kneel to Him and humbly pray— [Refrain]

January 22

Bible Reading: John 4:1-18

John 4:7-8, “A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’ (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?’ (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)”

John 4:17-18, “The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

John 4:27, “Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman.”

As far as others were concerned, Jesus had no business talking to a woman like that.  For one, she was a Samaritan, and the Jews had no dealings with Samaritans.  So deep was their centuries-old hatred, Jews would purpose to journey around Samaria rather than pass through it.  Besides that, she was a woman, and it was not customary for a Jewish man to talk to a woman in public.  In fact, they were not to speak in public even with women who were members of their own family.  Besides all that, she was an immoral woman—a fact that Jesus was well aware of—and no religious person of that day would have come anywhere near to a woman such as her.

It should not escape our attention that Jesus, “who came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10), was not averse to conversing with her. She was surprised (John 4:9). The disciples were also taken aback (John 4:27). Nicodemus and his Pharisee friends certainly would not have associated with her (Luke 15:1-2). But Jesus was not bound by cultural expectations or phony social distinctions. He “came into the world to save sinners” and found in that woman one that was well qualified (1 Timothy 1:15). His ministry and message equally applied to the religious (i.e. Nicodemus) and irreligious (i.e. the Samaritan woman).

Jesus knew all about her sinful past.  Later, she would testify, “He told me all that I ever did” (John 4:39).  He knew all about all her sins and failures.  But none of these things worked to dissuade Him.  The religiously proud would have readily deemed her as being beyond redemption, but Jesus valued her and spoke to her of precious spiritual truths.  As hopelessly lost as any of us might feel, in Jesus, we find One who came to seek and save us (Luke 19:10).  That’s good news for us all!  He has sought you out.  And there are people in your world who even now desperately need Him now.  Jesus deliberately went to that well to meet with a soul in desperate need of Him.  Who can you pray for and seek out today?

“I live in a dry, barren land. All around me men and women die of thirst. Make me a channel of living water to those who desperately need it.” – Ray Pritchard

JESUS, FRIEND OF SINNERS
Oh, Jesus, friend of sinners
Open our eyes to the world
At the end of our pointing fingers
Let our hearts be led by mercy
Help us reach with open hearts and open doors
Oh, Jesus, friend of sinners
Break our hearts for what breaks Yours

You love every lost cause
You reach for the outcast (every outcast)
For the leper and the lame
They’re the reason that You came

Lord, I was that lost cause (I was that lost cause)
And I was the outcast (and I was the outcast)
But You died for sinners just like me
A grateful leper at Your feet

‘Cause You are good, oh, You are good
And Your love endures forever
Oh, You are good, You are good
And Your love endures forever
-Casting Crowns; Songwriters: Matthew West, John Mark Hall.

January 19

Bible Reading: John 3:30-36

John 3:30, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

John the Baptist’s ministry was distinct from that of the religious leaders of his day.  They loved to garner attention to themselves, but John the Baptist’s ministry was all about making much of Jesus.

John was a man “sent from God” (John 1:6).  “He came for a witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through Him, He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light” (John 1:7-8).  Despite his unorthodox approach, he had a huge following.  “Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea, and all the district around the Jordan” (Matthew 3:5). 

In bearing “witness to the light” he was always directing people to Jesus (not to himself). When the religious leaders sent men to asked, “Who are you?” he replied, “I am not the Christ” (John 1:19-20). When they asked again, he affirmed his God-given role as a “voice crying in the wilderness (to) make straight the way of the Lord” (John 1:22-23; Isaiah 40:3). He spoke of the One who would come after him “whose sandal (he) was not worthy to untie” (John 1:27). He came to make much of the Christ, not of himself. We do well to follow his example. D. L. Moody once said that “the main thing is keeping the main thing the main thing.” Making much of Jesus and His gospel is the main thing.

LeRoy was a good friend and a devoted member of our church family.  He’d spent his life serving Jesus in many places and ways.  We’d meet once a month for lunch, and he’d share with me about his latest witnessing escapades.  A long-time Gideon, he’d love to venture off on his motorized wheelchair to the boardwalk in Seaside to hand out New Testaments and tell people about Jesus.  LeRoy was 97 and his health was in decline.  He wanted to meet with me.  So, I made the trip to Seaside and visited with him.  He made something very clear to me, as he knew he was soon to die.  “When you do my funeral,” he said, “Don’t be saying a bunch of stuff about me or anything I’ve done, talk about Jesus, share the gospel.”  In life and death, it was LeRoy’s intent to make much of Jesus.  Just like John the Baptist.  Just like we, as “ambassadors for Christ,” are all to do.  Prayerfully consider this question: “Is it my heart’s desire to make much of Jesus in both my walk and witness?” 

Make these words from the hymn your prayer today: “May His beauty rest upon me as I seek the lost to win, and may they forget the channel, seeing only Him” (May the Mind of Christ, My Savior).

“Let your earnest desire be that Christ might be magnified in your body, whether by life or by death, or by your job from 8:00 to 5:00.” – John Piper

MAY JESUS CHRIST BE PRAISED
When morning gilds the sky,
our hearts awaking cry:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
in all our work and prayer
we ask his loving care:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

To God, the Word on high,
the hosts of angels cry:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Let mortals too upraise
their voices in hymns of praise:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Let earth’s wide circle round
in joyful notes resound:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Let air and sea and sky
from depth to height reply:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Be this, when day is past,
of all our thoughts the last:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The night becomes as day
when from the heart we say:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Then let us join to sing
to Christ, our loving King:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Be this the eternal song
through all the ages long:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

January 18

Bible Reading: John 3:22-29

John 3:27, “John answered, ‘A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.’”

I say this as a former pastor who knows something about such temptations.  Sometimes, we pastors can get jealous of those with bigger ministries.  Even church members can act as there is some kind of race between churches to be bigger and better than everyone else.  But we are not in a competition.  We should instead be thankful for whatever ministry God has blessed us with, no matter its size and scope.

John’s disciples were concerned because the numbers of those following John were going down, while the numbers of Jesus’ followers were going up (John 3:26).  Though they were concerned, John was not, and instead articulated an important truth that has relevance to us all.  John understood that “a person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.”  His ministry had been given to him by God.  It was God’s to manage.  God called him to it and equipped and sustained him through it.  He would continue to do so until such time that God called John to something else.

It was as John MacArthur explained: “God had sovereignly granted him his ministry; if God now chose to change or end that ministry, John was content. Everything among God’s servants, including popular ministry, is a gracious gift from God, not something to which a person is entitled. Therefore, there is no place for jealousy, as John’s self-effacing reply indicated.”

John MacArthur

John has set a good example for us.  All that we have has been given to us by God.  In the words of the Apostle Paul, “What do you have that you did not receive” (1 Corinthians 4:7)?  Have you been saved?  Indwelt by the Spirit?  Instructed by the Spirit in the truth?  Gifted and equipped for ministry?  Led and sustained by the Spirit?  Encouraged in fellowship?  Granted comfort and courage and strength by the Lord?  Whatever good thing you have has come to you by God (James 1:17).  God prepared ahead of time even the good deeds you do (Ephesians 2:10). 

It is all by grace, and we should therefore be ever thankful for the privilege of serving, in whatever way God might call us to!  That’s not to say we should not seek to do more, broadening our ministry efforts in seeking to please God.  But our motivation must be to honor Jesus, not to outdo others that we might garner attention to ourselves.

“Our gifts and opportunities come from God, and He alone must get the glory.” – Warren Wiersbe

I’LL GO WHERE YOU WANT ME TO GO
It may not be on the mountain’s height,
Or over the stormy sea;
It may not be at the battle’s front
My Lord will have need of me;
But if by a still, small voice He calls
To paths I do not know,
I’ll answer, dear Lord, with my hand in Thine,
I’ll go where You want me to go.

Refrain:
I’ll go where you want me to go, dear Lord,
O’er mountain, or plain, or sea;
I’ll say what you want me to say, dear Lord,
I’ll be what you want me to be.

Perhaps today there are loving words
Which Jesus would have me speak;
There may be now, in the paths of sin
Some wand’rer whom I should seek.
O Saviour, if Thou wilt be my Guide,
Tho’ dark and rugged the way,
My voice shall echo the message sweet,
I’ll say what you want me to say. (Refrain)

There’s surely somewhere a lowly place
In earth’s harvest fields so wide,
Where I may labor thro’ life’s short day
For Jesus, the Crucified.
So, trusting my all to Thy care,
I know Thou lovest me!
I’ll do Thy will with a heart sincere,
I’ll be what you want me to be. (Refrain)