I've been missing in action!

I’ve been laying low this week, and will be back up next, hopefully! I had a temporary crown put in January 2, which I then pulled up by chewing gum (what was I thinking??). So, I went back in on that Friday, the 6th, and the dentist recemented the temp. By the afternoon of Saturday, I was in extreme pain. It seemed to dissipate by Monday, but by Tuesday afternoon of this week, the pain returned with a vengeance, so I called the dentist and he put me on antibiotics with plans to see me the next day. About an hour after talking with him, I started getting chills, then a fever of 101. I was taking extra strength Tylenol with the antibiotic and the fever finally broke in the morning. I stayed home from school Wednesday, and anxiously awaited my afternoon appointment. They called at 2:00 and told me they could take me earlier, which was great, because right after they called I started getting uncontrollable shaking and chills.

When I got there, he decided to do a root canal. He cleaned out the infection, did the root canal, packed in some antibiotics, then did a temporary sealing to allow the infection to heal completely. I go in on Monday for the finishing of the root canal, then will have the permanent crown put on at the end of the month. I was so exhausted after the chills and root canal (and more fever), so I stayed home again yesterday. I felt much better, although the entire right side of my jaw, chin and lips is now numb ( he hit the nerve when injecting the novocaine, which is not uncommon). I should never have googled that condition (paresthesia) last night, because it freaked me out. The estimates for the numbness to go away were from a few days to two years, or never! Since he didn’t actually nick the nerve, I’m hoping and praying for the few days!!!

Anyway, it’s been a miserable few days, and I did not sleep more than an hour and a half last night, but I’m heading to school this morning. I hear my class is terrorizing the sub!! :) Besides nausea (from the antibiotics) and pain and a headache, I’m pooped! And I’m quickly turning into a complainer, which is so humbling.

The only blessing from this was that, while I was sitting in the dentist’s chair for nearly two hours during the root canal, I spent the entire time praying for everyone I know (including some of you) who have been going through so much worse! I started by praying for Judi, my daughter Molly’s mother-in-law. She is having a kidney removed next week, and she has had all kinds of complications and discomfort. Thinking about what she is going through started me crying as I prayed, and throughout the two hours tears ran down my cheeks as I prayed for her, my sister and her daughter-in-law who lost my nephew this past year, the many friends who are currently undergoing chemotherapy, dear Erin, who is still holding onto that blessed baby (contractions have subsided), and everyone I could think of. The dentist never asked about the tears - I wonder if he just thinks I’m a baby or a kook! :)

So, my tooth thing is very minor, but I am asking for your prayers, that the numbness would go away quickly and that all pain and nausea would stop. Also, pray as I go in on Monday, because now I’m terrified of having more novocaine injections!! I need to be “strong and courageous” like Joshua, and my sweet dentist needs to hit the right spots! I’m sure he’ll be nervous, as well! And pray, specifically, today that I can get through the day without being grumpy to my students!! So glad it’s a three-day weekend!

Throughout this silly ordeal, I have been thanking God for His faithfulness, and that I have had so very few trials in my life! He has been good beyond measure! Back to John’s gospel, LORD willing, on Monday! Would you also keep Judi in your prayers as she has the kidney removed next Thursday? She was diagnosed with diabetes a couple of years ago, so we are all so very concerned about her! Love to you all!

John 1:14

Merry Christmas! I know we’ve just passed the season, but today we are going to enjoy the celebration again.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

This verse in John’s gospel very basically tells the Christmas story: God became a man and dwelled among us! So often our focus is on the death and resurrection of Christ, because that is WHY He came here - to save us from our sins by dying in our place on the cross. And even though Christmas is ALL about His birth as a flesh and blood baby, how often do we truly marvel at the Incarnation, God becoming a man?

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.  (Isaiah 7:14)

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6) [Can you read that without singing it?  Neither can I!]

What difference does it make whether or not we believe that Jesus was both the Son of God and God the Son? Isn’t it enough to believe He lived and died in our place? Why do Christians make such a big deal out of this doctrine?

To deny God came in the flesh is an insult and minimizes the sacrificial work Jesus did on our behalf. It’s not just that He allowed Himself to suffer a tortuous death on the cross (although that alone is amazing - would you do that for ANYONE???), but He also, as God the Son, left His home in Heaven, He left His rightful place sharing the throne with the Father, and He willingly limited Himself by becoming a flesh and blood man, so that He might identify with us and rightfully justify us by living a sinless life. Wrap your brains around that!

Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, exhorts us to have the same attitude as Christ:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:5-8)

It’s critical in our understanding of Who Jesus is, that we acknowledge that He is both deity and Man. His DNA is fully God on his Father’s side, and fully man on his mother’s. To deny either is an affront to God and the work He did on our behalf: the sacrifice of God becoming man that we might know Him, and the just, required payment for our sins as the only sinless Man.

The Apostle John testified that he had SEEN Jesus’ glory. He personally witnessed it! And I love that he describes Jesus as “full of grace and truth.” Jon Courson points out that people don’t generally demonstrate both qualities together. Those who are very truthful and tell it like it is are usually harsh and hard to be around. They can be extremely judgmental. On the other hand, those who are full of grace seldom are fully forthright and truthful - they will overlook, rather than affirm weaknesses. Jesus was able to be fully truthful while somehow extending grace to the most sinful (think of his encounter with the woman caught in adultery or the Samaritan woman at the well). Don’t you love Him for that?? May we demonstrate those qualities to those around us!

LORD Jesus, how we thank you that you came to Earth as a man and lived among us that you might be our High Priest who “is able to empathize with our weaknesses . . who has been tempted in every way, just as we are,” yet without sinning! (Hebrews 4:15) We are in awe that you left your throne to take on the body of a vulnerable baby, to be completely submitted to the will of the Father, that we might be saved!

John 1:9-13

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. (John1:9)

This was the message of the forerunner, John the Baptist. The true Light, who gives light to EVERYONE was coming! The book of Romans tells us no one will ever be able to say that they never had an opportunity to know about God:

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:20-21)

God has made Himself plainly known through creation. He has given each man an intuitive understanding that He exists. Men CHOOSE not to believe. They choose to ignore the Light:

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. (John 1:10-11)

It’s not that the Jews COULD NOT believe - they WOULD NOT! We’ll see this throughout John’s gospel as we read about the reactions Jesus evokes. The very people Jesus sought to save, with just a few exceptions, rejected Him, even after hearing Him speak and seeing His miracles, and even after being raised in the Law and the Prophets. So it is very possible to know the Scriptures without knowing the Word.

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (vs. 12-13)

The word “Yet,” that begins verse 12 is “But” in the King James Version. I had a friend who once studied the “buts” of the Bible, because she found that word is a turning point in so many passages. And in this one, after telling us the bad news that Jesus’ own people rejected Him, we are told the good news: anyone who chooses to receive Christ, anyone who believes He is who He claims to be and puts his trust in Christ can BECOME a child of God.

Many people believe that we are ALL God’s children - and surely we are ALL His creation. Each one of us was specifically created for His pleasure. However, we do not become His children except through adoption when we fully trust Him through faith in Christ, in who Christ is and in what He has done (completed) for us. You don’t become a child of God because your grandfather was a pastor - there is no genetic passing of faith. You don’t become a child of God just because you are trying hard to do His will. God by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. God has done the saving part, we need to RECEIVE the gift He’s given by doing the believing part.

Now, many people get hung up on the idea that not EVERYONE has heard the gospel. “What about the native in some remote area who has never had the chance??” Well, as we saw in Romans, everyone HAS seen the reality of God - even if they have never heard the name of Jesus, they can choose to seek God, who promises to reveal Himself to all who seek (Jeremiah 29:13).

I love what Jon Courson says about this: “If you’re concerned about lost people and God’s ability to reach them, don’t stay here and discuss the ramifications of predestination. Go tell them Jesus died for them! You may be the very messenger the Lord uses to reach one who is waiting to hear the gospel.” Hard to squirm out of that argument! :)

Have you received Him? Have you said “Yes!” to God’s gift - to the Light He has given you? If so, you can be assured that you belong to Him! This is one of the Apostle John’s reasons for writing - that we may KNOW!

Tomorrow we’ll be looking at the Christmas story! I know you have already put away your decorations, but we will be celebrating all over again!

 

John 1:4-8

In today’s verses, John turns to the imagery of light and darkness. Jesus is THE Light who has overcome the darkness:

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:4-5)

Darkness is scary, whether you are a little kid or an adult. Remember when you were little and how unsettling it was to be in a dark room? We were certain there was some kind of boogeyman lurking in our bedrooms! As adults, we know the boogeyman isn’t real, yet the darkness can still have a powerful influence over us. I’m sure you’ve all had nights when you have been wrestling with some problem through the night - and the darkness greatly increased the importance of whatever the problem was. But when the morning light came, somehow you saw things as they really were, and those adult “boogeymen” were reduced to their proper scale. You could see there was never really any danger. That’s the power of light - it shows things as they really are. It illuminates truth. Everything becomes clear when we flip on the light switch!

If you are currently struggling with something dark (bad news about health, a spouse who has told you he’s leaving you, the threat of job loss, a financial mess that seems to have no solution, etc.), bring it to the light of God’s Word - in fact, bring it to The Light. If you remember how big our God is, you can see your problem in a new light - its scale will be greatly reduced! The Creator of the universe, who sustains everything, can surely handle your problem!

Now, John turns to what seems to be an almost random reference to John the Baptist:

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. (vs.6-8)

I wondered about this being plopped into the middle of John’s discourse on the identity of Christ, so I am grateful that Jon Courson covers it. He writes, “At the time John wrote his Gospel in A.D. 75 or so, people were already beginning to worship John the Baptist. The apostle John wanted to nip this idea in the bud. Thus, at the very outset of his Gospel, he makes it crystal clear that John the Baptist was not Jesus’ equal.” (Application Commentary: New Testament, P. 437).

We see this issue even today, when saints or other religious leaders are venerated to a place of near equality with Jesus. So the apostle John is making it clear that John the Baptist had a specific role, to witness to the Light. What is really interesting is that John the Baptist was not called to be the defending attorney for Christ, just a witness. I find great relief knowing that, as Courson points out, “We are not called to debate, argue, convince. We are called to be witnesses - to share the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth concerning what the Lord is doing in our lives.” ( Courson, P.436)

We don’t need a theology degree or even in-depth Bible knowledge in order to simply tell people what Jesus has done for us. There is no pressure for us to convince anyone of the Truth. That is the job of the Holy Spirit. We are merely called to share as God gives opportunity. As a new Christian, I felt the need to quickly learn all I could about the Bible and apologetics in order to properly “witness.” And while I LOVE apologetics, and the many things I’ve learned through Bible study, the reality is that “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”

This morning, as I read these verse, that is what popped out at me! If I want others to know my Jesus, I just need to SHOW Him by my actions. Then, if anyone asks the reason for my hope, I can just simply tell my story... PHEW! Does that speak to you, too?

 

John 1:1-3 PART 2

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)

We return to this verse today, because it is the opening, the “hook” John uses to begin his gospel. Right off the bat, he has my attention! Because he wrote this book that we might believe in Jesus, John wants us to be certain who Jesus really is. He was not just some profound teacher who said some radical things about love and peace. He was not just a messenger of God - He IS God! I heard Dr. James Dobson once say, “If Jesus had just been a ‘positive thinker,’ they wouldn’t have put him on the cross.” And we will see in this book that it was indeed His claims for Himself that put him there.

Jon Courson writes about this first verse of John:

“Whenever the beginning was, wherever it was, whatever it might have been, Jesus - the Word - was already there. He had no beginning and He has no end. He is eternally God.” (Application Commentary: New Testament, P. 444)

If you want to know God, you must know Jesus. And this is the goal of John - that we may KNOW Jesus. John will emphasize the “I Am’s” of Jesus - those claims he made. Romans 10:9 declares, "If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

What does that mean to claim “Jesus is Lord?” When I was a new Christian I had a huge “Jesus is Lord” sticker plastered to the side of my diaper bag. I must have thought it was a great way to share my faith! :) Ye gads! Anyway, it was several months into my walk with the Lord that it finally struck me why that is such an important statement. It did not merely signify that Jesus had become the Lord of ALL aspects of my life. That certainly wasn’t and still isn’t true, as much as I’d like it to be. I’m still struggling with relinquishing control over everything in my life (my tongue, my thoughts, etc.) We know that it is not possible this side of heaven to make Him completely Lord of our lives. Instead, confessing Him as Lord is an acknowledgement of Who He IS.

We’re moving on in this first chapter tomorrow, because this issue of Christ’s identity will be hit over and over throughout our journey through John’s gospel. But know that it is a predominant theme of John’s book, because it matters!

I’m going to ask today for a couple of prayers from those of you who are prayer warriors. My daughter Molly’s mother-in-law, Judi, entered the hospital yesterday in great pain. It was determined that she has kidney stones, however, they also found a mass on one of the kidneys. They are doing a biopsy today, so please pray for a benign result. And while I’m speaking of kidneys, would you also pray for my friend, Karen, who is now getting in line for a kidney transplant, as both of her kidneys are functioning at only 10%. Lots of needs out there! Please share yours with me!

 

John 1:1-3

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (John 1:1-3)

John hearkens back to Genesis with the opening of his gospel - and with good reason. Not only does he want to make a connection to the book of beginnings - the book in which God makes the promise to provide a redeemer, but John wants to make very clear exactly who Jesus is. He is the Word. He is fully Creator God, coeternal with the Father (had no beginning, but is self-existent). As the Creator, he is not the created. The created can never be the Creator.

In using the name “Word,” John reminds his readers that God spoke everything into existence from nothing. When we started in Genesis, I used a phrase I’ve heard: “If you can’t believe the first four words of the Bible, you are not going to believe the rest.” It all stands on the truth that GOD created EVERYTHING, with a purpose, logic, and order (the Greek word for Word is logos, which means speech, thought, reason). In Genesis we are told eight times that “God said... and it was so.” John’s point here is that Jesus is the Word. He was with God from the very beginning, and, in fact, IS God. When the Word spoke, the world was created. The word for God here is the Hebrew word, elohim. It’s a plural word that the Jews used for the one true God. It speaks to us of the triune nature of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Jon Courson, in his Application Commentary: New Testament, speaks about how both the Greeks and the Jews would understand this word, logos:

“John’s use of the Greek word logos is important. The Greeks had developed a philosophy articulated by Plato and others that was built upon the assumption that the logos, the word, was the foundation of everything on earth. The earth, Plato said, was simply a shadow of the reality of the logos that existed somewhere in the heavens. The Jews took the Greek concept of the logos one step further. Whereas Pluto said behind everything there’s a perfect thought (logos), the Jews said that behind the thought there must be a thinker.

“ ‘We don’t see perfection (logos) here on earth, but it must exist somewhere,’ said the Greek.
“ ‘Yes. And if there is a true, perfect thought (logos), there must be a true, perfect thinker,’ added the Hebrew.” (Jon Courson’s Application Commentary: New Testament, P. 435)

When I began my search for the truth 36 years ago, this is what I had concluded: all religions cannot be true, because they are contradictory, and God would not be the author of confusion. Therefore, there must be ONE Truth - and that’s what I wanted to know. I needed to know it, because I had a new baby girl, and I knew I would be accountable to God for raising her in the Truth. Had I started by reading the book of John, I probably would have gotten there much quicker than I did!

We will be sticking around these verses, because they are so important, so more about the Word tomorrow! Have a great morning!

 

Introduction to John's Gospel

Happy New Year! I’m so excited to start this new study in the Gospel of John! I love the fact that John tells us exactly why he felt compelled to write a fourth gospel, and specifically why he chose to include the particular details that he did:

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31)

The Apostle John wrote this gospel so that its readers might BELIEVE! And he is not just talking about giving mental assent to some facts about the historicity of Christ. James tells us in his letter that just agreeing that Jesus is God is not enough: You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. (James 2:19). Both James and John are speaking of a belief or faith that completely changes your life and your actions.

In this gospel, John is unapologetic in his desire to encourage his readers to commit themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ. Commentators believe it was written primarily to Gentile followers of Jesus, especially (as my intro to John is my Bible states) “those who were struggling with the predominant Greek philosophies of the day. . .” Some gnostics of the day spiritualized Jesus to the point of denying his humanity. John wants to make it clear that Jesus is not only fully God, but fully man. This seems evident from the very first verse, especially as it ties to verse 14:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (vs.14)

Tomorrow we will examine these first verses more closely, but John is making it very clear from the beginning of this gospel that Jesus is the unique Son of God and Son of Man. And he wants all who read this book to BELIEVE and be changed! How appropriate that we begin a new year with that resolution in mind - may WE be changed completely as we go through this book in 2012.

Can’t wait to jump in!