I've been spending a lot of time reading and meditating on the Gospel of John, not just because we're tackling it this Sunday at Life Church, but also because the Spirit daily draws me deeper into its waters for my own spiritual well-being.
In fact, just yesterday as I was spending time with my counselor, without knowing that I'm chewing on John's Gospel, my counselor himself spent an hour pouring into me with many of the accounts and teachings from the Gospel of John!
In my life, when a particular passage or book of Scripture repeatedly comes to my attention from multiple sources in a short amount of time, it is God the Holy Spirit knocking me over my stubborn head with the Holy 2x4 saying, “Shut up and listen to Me!”
For what it's worth, here are a few lines of Scripture that grabbed my imagination and my heart early this morning...
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‘Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.’ (John 1:17) -- If I don’t lead with love, nothing I say or do matters.
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‘The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother… And he brought him to Jesus.’ (John 1:41-42) — Found People Find People!
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‘On the third day a wedding took place…’ (John 2:1) — A foreshadowing of the Resurrection! Jesus rose from death on the Third Day and a New Beginning and ReCreation began!
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‘You have saved the best till now!’ (John 2:10) — Because in Christ, the BEST is always YET to come!
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‘Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.’ (Jesus in John 3:19) — Wow. Even though I walk in darkness as a sinful man full of pride and arrogance, the Light pursues me. If Jesus never gave up on me, who am I to ever give up on people?!
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‘He must become greater; I must become less.’ (John the Baptizer in John 3:30) — Wow. Wow. Wow. In a look-at-me, TikTok-drenched world, this statement is the most counter-cultural thing you can say in 2021!!
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‘True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth…’ ‘God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.’ (Jesus in John 4:23-24). Jesus emphasized this point twice. When Scripture is repeated, it’s God’s way of saying, ‘Pay attention — this is important!’
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‘Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.’ (Jesus in John 5:14) — Yikes. If Jesus looked me in the eye and spoke those words, it would scare me straight! In fact, through Scripture, Jesus IS looking me in the eyes and speaking those words to me!
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‘My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too, am working.’ (Jesus in John 5:17) — Jesus never stops. Jesus never gives up on people. Jesus perseveres. Jesus oozes with love and radical acceptance. There’s always more ministry to do, more people to serve, more lives to impact, more room at the table, and more Sundays to welcome Guests into Heaven. We gotta keep working!
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