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Week One Week Two Week Three Week Four Week Five Week Six Week Seven
Lectio
Divina is the monastic
practice of
"divine reading,"
not just reading the Scripture informationally but transformationally,
or not just reading the Scripture but allowing it to read us.
Each morning we pray aloud
together using the
Morning Prayer Liturgy,
from
the Northumbria monastery in England. We start with the Opening
Statement, the Response, and the Declaration of Faith. Then, a Bible
passage, from the Year One Lectionary, is read
aloud three
times by our "head monk."
On our own, in the evening, we pray through the Evening Prayer Liturgy and look over our journal entry from the morning, reflecting on our day.
| Week One |
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. "This, then, is how you should pray:Matthew 6:7-15" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.'For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
1) "Do not be like them, for"
(v.8)
He doesn't just say don't BUT why - and a good and perfect why, too
2) i think i would've heard
the first part and
felt so caught out that i'd miss the middle and then just catch the
last remark, becoming even more worried BUT since
Christ is the
one speaking, i would hear His love and be confused
by what
underlie the words that seemed like death to me
Father: Christ keeps calling God, Father, only calls Him, Father - i
think that would stick in my head, helping undergird the confusion,
shame, etc, with His love
3) just pray! i don't need many words, for my Father knows what i need, what i'm wanting to ask of Him - it's the asking that's the important part - not how well or thoroughly i ask. please LORD, help me to pray daily - even if it's just the lifting up of names to You, Father, even if it's just saying "i want to pray" or "i want to listen." may i learn to see the power of prayer where it truly lies --> all in YOU and none in me except Your Spirit alone.
from other people's
responses...
"When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.Matthew 6:16-23"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
1) "how great is that
darkness!" (v.23)
it is blacker in a room where light once was and is no longer
2)
confused, relieved -- confused b/c of the
fasting--how can it
be holy done in secret w/o the "ritual" i've been taught? how can i be
sure God will know if it's not evident? relieved b/c i don't have much
treasure here anyway so it's nice to know i don't need to and that
there's even a way i could have some elsewhere. but then that darkness,
what am i to do about that? i'm left a bit off-kilter
w/o my
ritual and these words on heart and eyes.
3) "but when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face" (v.17) --> this journey should show no raggedness in my life -- it should not be a topic of toil, instead i should appear refreshed and joyful and be tired in secret -- even from myself, so that i will not think too highly of my "suffering." LORD, please watch over my mind and my mouth that they might serve you silently and with gladness.
from other people's
responses...
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'Luke 18:9-14"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
3) "beat his breast" (v.13)
reminded me of the
story in the Old Testament where Elisha told a king he would be
victorious over his enemy and he was supposed to beat arrows on the
ground, which he did three times but God was angry b/c He wanted it to
be heartfelt, beating 6-7 times b/c he so wanted the LORD to be on his
side (2 Kings 13:18-19)
any posture of prayer only matters b/c of your state of heart - and
reserving your body when your heart feels, aids no one - most
especially not yourself. do not be afraid to beat your breast. pray
that you will feel that deeply so you honestly could not help yourself.
from other people's
responses...
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, 'A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel."John 1:29-34Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God."
1) "the reason i came...was that He might be revealed" (v.31)
2) relief at the grace of Christ - that the Father will tell us it is He, even when we see Him with our eyes and know Him not AND God allows us to be His vessel, working for the kingdom even when we yet do not understand fully or sometimes even at all.
3) not sure what my invitation is but the fact that God told John how he could know Christ made me yearn to hear such things from God -- actual sentences! so maybe God is inviting me to trust Him that He can and will speak to me, if i will listen.
from other people's
responses...
The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"John 1:35-42When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?"
They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?"
"Come," he replied, "and you will see."
So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.
Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter).
1) "the first thing Andrew
did" (v.41)
"what do you want?" (v.38)
2) the beginning is exciting and joyous -- Andrew and John meet the Messiah - and what joy that must have been, BUT, i think what captures my heart is that last bit where Jesus looks at Simon, knows who he is, and gives him a new name (v.42). i love the names that God gives b/c they exemplify Him - His power, His love, His wisdom. and i feel like God gave me a name when i was born: my parents didn't really know going in but then felt they were to call me Elizabeth - house of God - and He has made me His house, so i guess what i feel is CHOSEN. thank You, Father!
3) follow Me, share Me today.
from other people's
responses...
| Week Two |
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."John 2:1-12"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."
They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."
This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
1) "you have saved the best
till now" (v.10)
"do whatever He tells you" (v.5)
2) i'm captured by the way Christ is - that He saves the best for last - that there is always better yet to come; that is what we long for here on earth but can never find - and that is way He works! yet i'm always afraid to ask for more of Him BUT that is the way He works - so why do i fear? b/c it shows my need and desire? b/c it humbles me? the master seems simply curious and pleased - i feel more - i am grateful and hopeful and yet still a little afraid - i think i do not know His love well enough yet, for "perfect love casts out all fear" and yet i fear - so let me seek to know His love (1 John 4:18)
3) "saved the best" (v.10)
still struck me, then
i heard - Seek My Best - not sure how that relates
to today b/c
i'm not worried that i'll think today is the best at all! :) i'm
actually hoping to get through today - though i am looking forward to
studying Micah tonight with the girls. perhaps it's not always about
settling though, perhaps it's also about trusting for the best or even
just that better will come again. right now it seems like this week
looms large and dark before me as i look back at last week BUT His best
is ahead so perhaps that's my invitation to *Look Forward*
and
trust that His good goes before me. Thank You, Father.
*i just reread the passage & v.8 struck me - the servants could
have been beaten for taking water to the master yet they went to him
b/c Christ told them to - seemingly unafraid - though they knew it was
water, that they had drawn it themselves - seems like Peter going out
to preach, knowing himself and all his faults - that he was simply
water - yet w/ faith he spoke, trusting that Christ could make him wine
from other people's
responses...
When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"John 2:13-22His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."
Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?"
Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."
The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
1) "to those who sold doves
He said, 'get
these out of here!'" (v.16)
--even doves can be a desecration "what miraculous sign can you show us
to prove Your authority" (v.18) --i ask this, too, and why would i
expect to understand or make sense of the answer when i ask for a
miracle?
2) at first i was thinking condescendingly of the money changers but when i put myself among them, i felt different. i think i would've known what i was doing felt a bit wrong and so when Jesus came in angry, though i would've been a bit guilty and maybe a bit mad, i think i'd also feel relieved - and when the question of His authority was asked, i would've asked the question myself in my heart but -really wanting to know, not flippant or haughty, but hoping He really did have authority, hoping this was something more than the anger i'd seen around the temple before. and when He replied, my doubt would still be of one hoping to believe, desiring to understand as the other lenders shot back their mocking reply. so perhaps when i ask this of God, it merely shows my weak trust rather than haughty pride - not that weak trust is good, but it is closer b/c it shows my weakness and thus leads me to seek Christ's help
3) v.13 struck me when i went back to reread - "when it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem" that almost time caught me and reminded me of how i'm living in an "almost time" state over the next two years. what 'places' do i need to go? what tables of mine need overturned? so that i can be prepared and cleansed for my 'Passover'? LORD, please guide me in this - cleanse me, even if it requires a whip to clear out all that does not belong in me - as Your temple, i desire to be holy
from other people's
responses...
Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.John 2:23-3:15Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."
In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.
"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
1) "He knew" (v.24,25)
"flesh gives birth to flesh" (v.6)
2) not sure what i feel today - when i caught the "He knew" even though it refers more to the fact that He knows our weakness & faults, i felt relief and also saw how He sees me in my entirety and so i don't have to explain myself but can just come to Him and open up. as i'm writing this, i think of how great it is that Nicodemus could come to Christ in the night and receive these words - the 'famous' John 3:16 even, that has perhaps led many to Christ. i must admit that all these positive feelings the last few days make me feel like God's preparing me to deal with some crap soon, though. BUT that "flesh gives birth to flesh" caught me, too - and i wonder how many times i try to birth spirit from flesh or end up with flesh from spirit. not sure how this makes me feel except maybe sad and frustrated. similar to the earthly-heavenly talk - felt caught-out that i think i mess with the two as though they were interchangeable.
3) @ first, i was thinking along the lines of being a gracious listener, realizing not all have the Spirit, so not all experience the freedom of saying what they really mean b/c they're already known by their Father - BUT then i remembered the snake passage, "just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up" (v.14), and wondered if i trust God to make miracles out of "normal" things like...my day? He could choose to make a miracle out of today. it is hard for me to believe that, but i want to. LORD, i want to believe that You can make a miracle out of today. help me in my unbelief.
from other people's
responses...
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."John 3:16-21
1) "hate
the light" (v.20)
--interesting thought: they hate the light b/c they think it exposes
them but God sees all anyway
2) i was remembering that this passage is still part of the night conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus - and just as Nico so literally took Jesus' statement that he must be born again, i wonder if he felt Jesus was harping on him about coming @ night with all His talk about darkness. i think i would've wondered how the heck i was going to get anywhere with Jesus when He so clearly could see straight through me to my fear and confusion and spoke so directly to both. makes me feel weak and inadequate to follow Him. and YET there's v.16 to remember - for He so loved the world, He came to give life eternal to those who believed. and i think, sitting there w/ Jesus - love and truth shining in His eyes - how could i not believe? so through that weakness, i feel hope and expectation for the morning. praise God!
3) "stands condemned algready" (v.18) - the choice is to remain on the path to hell or take the high road to heaven - the only choice of real action is heaven. perhaps that's why Jesus hates lukewarm 'christians' b/c it is also inactive, like choosing the high road and then not actually walking down it. to follow Christ equate constant action; you cannot follow by standing still; Jesus did not say things merely for their spiritual meaning alone - when He said, "follow Me and I will make you fishers of men," (Mark 1:17) He meant walk after Me, move after Me and work/fish for men, just as hard as you would fish for fish. all the talk of shepherding and fishing seem like rich metaphors but they were tangibles to those people to whom Jesus spoke - and neither were the easiest, cleanest, most respected jobs in the world, either. so i am called to follow, to move, to work hard - and YET, His burden is light (Matthew 11:30) and He will not let me be tempted beyond what i can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13) and He will give me life to the full (John 10:10) and in the time that is not yet come. Amen!
from other people's
responses...
After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. (This was before John was put in prison.) An argument developed between some of John's disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. They came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan--the one you testified about--well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him."John 3:22-36To this John replied, "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.' The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.
"The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."
1) "without limit" (v.34)
2) as one of the disciples coming to John, i would've felt amazed that he could speak so rationally about "becoming less" and, in the way you often hold tighter to someone's reputation than they do themselves, i would be kind of offended for him. plus, i've already 'sacrificed' for John, how can i just switch my loyalties - or more like, how can i trust in a way i did not foresee and cannot understand - for He is from above and does not speak of the earth - "My thoughts are not your thoughts, My ways are not your ways" (Isaiah 55:8-9). w/ John, i had a hope of grasping his words, his ways - with Christ how can i hope to understand? only by His Spirit - for the Spirit knows (1 Corinthians 2:11; Romans 8:26-27) - and thankfully, "God gives the Spirit without limit" (v.34)
3) follow what you have been
told
"the one you testified about" (v.26) - John had already told his
disciples of Jesus - why were they coming back to him for more
explanation - JUST FOLLOW and if you must have
explanation GO
TO GOD, He's the One who knows all. why do i keep going to
friends
for advice when i know what it is i am to do, when if i really don't
understand it's something only Christ can explain not another
'earthling'
from other people's
responses...
| Week Three |
Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?"John 4:27-42Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" They came out of the town and made their way toward him. Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something."
But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about."
Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?"
"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."
Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers.
They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."
1) "come, see" (v.29) she
doesn't tell them but
asks them to come and see in the same way she did - expecting no more
of them than of herself
"eat something" (v.31) their advice is vague and
w/o full
knowledge while Christ is always specific (though sometimes unclear) w/
full knowledge
2) if i were one of the
samaritans, in today's
world, i would be intrigued, though a bit hesitant
to follow
this woman, noting the difference in her approach from all the other
people i'd run into who would tell me how they'd found God and now they
wanted me to have the same thing - but it was just talk - they never
said, "hey this is why i believe but don't just take my word for it,
come, see!" no one has ever allowed me to start where they started and
see what they saw so that i can come to the same conclusions. they
always expect me to 'get it' already, to merely be pigheaded in not
admitting the truth they see. but she asked me to "come, see" and when
i did, because i just couldn't say no, in case she was right, i did
see! it was Him, the Christ. and now that i'm free i can't help but say
to others, "come, see" --and i'm not just standing on the words of
someone else but on Christ, Himself.
3) "come, see" - the LORD
tells me this is the
way to share the good news - just like when i've seen a good movie or
read a good book or seen an amazing place (IRELAND!), i don't just want
to tell people - i want them to see for themselves, to love it not b/c
i do but b/c they do! and the 'hard work' of the sowers, is more a
burden of the heart, i think, than a labour of action b/c what can i
really do to make Christ's kingdom come? i can only
love Him,
let Him take root in my life, and from Him alone comes the seed. so
perhaps the reasn it's hard to think of rejoicing as the sower for what
i never get to reap is b/c i think i'm the one who did all the work but
if the 'work' is to say "come, see" that is not hard. what is hard is
continuing to say it when no one listens and when no one comes but
whenever i would hear that someone did - years later, miles away - of
course i would rejoice b/c they had listened, they had come and now
they did see
*"come, see" look at the LORD; He is the One who can change you, not
me. i can only take you to where He found me*
from other people's
responses...
After the two days he left for Galilee. (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.
"Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe." The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies."
Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live."
The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour."
Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed.
This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.
John 4:43-54
1) "at His word" (v.50)
2) i'm intrigued by the exchange between Jesus and the royal official. he comes asking for Jesus to heal his son and even though Jesus responds kind of negatively about how no one will believe unless they see signs, it's to be marked that there have only been a few miracles - so it still takes some faith for this man to come to Him. and even after Jesus' first response he asks again. kind of like when Abraham kept asking God to save His people if there were 50 righteous, 30 righteous, 10 righteous (Genesis 18) or when Jacob wrestles God (Genesis 32). and then, when the man believes Jesus at His wor - w/o sight - how pleased Christ must have been. but it's interesting in v.53 that it says "so he...believed" as if he didn't fully believe before. but perhaps, it's referring more to "all his household" rather than himself. but how does this make me feel? well, the man obviously felt hope and trust - i guess i feel desire to have that and the tenacity to keep asking and expecting and trusting.
3) "take Jesus at His word" (v.50)
"hope that is seen is no hope at all" (Romans 8:24)from other people's responses...
- why did the official go himself?
- the Samaritans believed in Him; the Galileans believed His signs & wonders
- to "take Jesus at His word" requires humility & desperation
Day Thirteen - 19 March
Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie--the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"John 5:1-18"Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."
Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat."
But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.' "
So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?"
The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
1) "i have no one to help me" (v.7)
--defends himself rather than answer Jesus' question2) once again i am caught by the interaction w/ Jesus - the lame man first defends himself against Jesus' question rather than answering straight. but when Jesus tells him to get up and walk, he does and i think that shows his belief so i wonder if he'd had no faith, if he'd have been healed. how many times had the man been asked if he really wanted to be healed? but no one had ever told him he was? BUT Jesus didn't require him to have immediate faith - thus, He allows his first response, but i wonder if after telling him to walk, the man had had another defense why he couldn't, if he would not have been healed. i guess i'm mostly confused.
3) i feel my invitation is to stay home from work and pray. i am sick and i keep feeling faint but i was trying to convince myself i could make it - b/c i feel irresponsible, b/c it seems weak, b/c i don't want to really take a sick day but save it for vacation, and sadly even b/c i don't want to miss the free d'bronx pizza. but that phrase "i have no one to help me" is what i feel i'm saying about being sick--i live alone and have no doctor to go to but Christ can heal me - and yet, i don't feel He's saying "get up and walk" but rather "stop sinning" - when i feel sick, i focus on me -- so to take a day of prayer for others is what i feel He is calling me to do. i hope i can actually do that. please give me strength and focus, LORD. heal me.
from other people's responses...
- after being healed, his whole life was changed - he can no longer do what he's done all his life, every day
- i don't want to be the pharisees
- i don't have to know who it is that heals me (v.13)
- God is not packable
Day Fourteen - 20 March
Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.John 5:19-29"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
"Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out--those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.”
1) "whatever the Father does the Son also does" (v.19)
2) v.19 and 20 strike me at the heart - i know it's talking of Jesus and God - the Son and Father - but i think those two verses can also be applied to me as a child of God - that i can do nothing by myself, but only what i see the Father doing and that i should do whatever the Father does. and the Father shows me what He does through His word and the world around me and perhaps when i'm frustrated b/c it's just not the right time for "He will show Him even greater things" and He knows when best to show me these new ways, take me down these new paths. i guess i feel challenged to follow Christ in this way of obedience to the Father, to only do what He does and nothing more, b/c i can do nothing by myself. not quite sure what this looks like day to day.
3) first, this time i felt comfort at v.27 that Jesus gets to judge "b/c He is the Son of Man" - He was like me and so it is He who will judge me - how comforting.
i feel my invitation is simply to "follow the Father" and in so doing, trust that His way is best and the perfect way for me to walk. He loves me and He is good. if Christ could follow Him to the cross, though He asked to be released, i can follow Him wherever He leads me, however He leads me. help me, Father, i can do nothing by myself.from other people's responses...
- rather than asking God to bless what you're doing, find out what He's blessing and do it. [Henry Blackabee]
Day Fifteen - 21 March
“By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.John 5:30-47"If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid.
"You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. "I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
"I do not accept praise from men, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?
"But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?"
1) "for a time" (v.35)
"you refuse to come to Me to have life" (v.40)
"how can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?" (v.44)2) lovingly reprimanded. quite a few of Christ's statements seem directed towards me - though i do believe Jesus is God, i still often trust in man over God b/c humans are tangible. and yet most of the people i trust in are like Moses - all pointing to God so that they are accusing me that i trust in them rather than the God they profess; i follow them rather than God. i know that Paul urged the Corinthians to follow him as he followed Christ but that is b/c they hadn't yet had an opportunity to see Him as Paul had - so they needed that. i, however, have seen God - He has most definitely shown Himself to me over and over throughout my life so why can't i just follow Him, just do what He says rather than simply read and be amazed by His words, but not moved to act upon them? i refuse to come to Him for life - once again, like i'm afraid He won't give me good life and i look for man's praise rather than God's - my treasures on earth rather than in heaven, seen rather than hoped for.
3) how am i going to believe what He says? i must relinquish my hold on myself - not trust my ability but God alone. i must not walk in the light of my own fire but follow Him into darkness, trusting Him to be the lamp before my feet (Isaiah 50:10-11; Psalm 119:105). i must be willing to do things i am not sure i can do - whether it be to give more than i think i can afford, do a task too hard for me, do a task i am unsure of my ability for or dare a dream i'm not quite prepared for. LORD, help me to trust fully in You and to believe what You say and may i place my treasure in heaven with You (Matthew 6:19-21).
from other people's responses...
- what are the foundations of my faith?
- you can only judge if you're w/ the Father (v.30)
Week Four
Day Sixteen - 24 March
Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. The Jews were amazed and asked, "How did this man get such learning without having studied?"John 7:14-36Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?"
"You are demon-possessed," the crowd answered. "Who is trying to kill you?"
Jesus said to them, "I did one miracle, and you are all astonished. Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath. Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment."
At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, "Isn't this the man they are trying to kill? Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ? But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from." Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, "Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me."
At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. Still, many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, "When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?"
The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.
Jesus said, "I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me. You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come."
The Jews said to one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? What did he mean when he said, 'You will look for me, but you will not find me,' and 'Where I am, you cannot come'?"
1) "not My own" (v.16)
"if anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether My teaching comes from God or whether I speak on My own" (v.17)2) not sure of feeling but i was struck by v.20 when the crowd asks Jesus if He's demon-possessed simply b/c He asks who's trying to kill Him. and i was interested that they so quickly connected what they thought was madness to spiritual things - in this case, demons. and i thought how sad that today it'd be the last reason people -even Christians- would think of for anything amiss - not that the Jews were right, of course, but simply that today spiritual answers are regarded as foolish or not regarded at all. but then there is v.24 - "make a right judgment." even though they thought 'spiritually' many did not believe truth anymore than the scientists and philosophers do today - so i come back to the "men are w/o excuse" (Romans 1:20) and i should not look at the lack of spiritual thoughts as the reason for our society's problems but simply realize if man follows his nature, regardless of his appearance, there will be problems and the appearance only shows the path to walk to show him the way to Truth and thus, to Christ. (meaning, what is lacking - today, spiritual reason - is an avenue to opening eyes to Truth rather than the cause of sin). *just as we complicate truth and faith, we complicate sin - both are actually quite simple, which makes it all the harder for us.*
3)*seek the Father's glory* do not speak on my own BUT follow Christ's example - follow the Father; live in His will; dream what He dreams; love what He loves; hate what He hates - and know it is not my own but His and i am His steward b/c He has chosen to share His treasure with me and has in fact put it in my care - all that i have that is good is God's - and He has a time for everything and will not let me come to harm unless and until it is His time for it. *do not fear*
from other people's responses...
- why does my fallenness seem bigger than Jesus' ability to overcome it?
Day Seventeen - 25 March
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.John 7:37-52On hearing his words, some of the people said, "Surely this man is the Prophet."
Others said, "He is the Christ."
Still others asked, "How can the Christ come from Galilee? Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?" Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.
Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him in?"
"No one ever spoke the way this man does," the guards declared.
"You mean he has deceived you also?" the Pharisees retorted. "Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law--there is a curse on them."
Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, "Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?"
They replied, "Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee."
1) "are you from Galilee, too?" (v.52)
2) i'm caught by the last part of the passage when the temple guards come back to the pharisees. how many times must they have been sent to arrest someone? yet it seems this is the first time they did not carry out their duty. what glory might be theirs in heaven if they continued to believe. and Nicodemus - after talking w/ Jesus that one night, i have a feeling he didn't say too much about it to his fellow pharisees. yet here he seems compelled to speak, perhaps by the simple yet faithful reaction of the guards to their hearts. and then immediately the pharisees turn on Nicodemus - lumping him w/ this 'madman' simply b/c he asked a simple, honest question concerning their law they all knew so well. i wonder if in that pain of rejection Nicodemus finally started to feel some freedom from the chains of pharisee.
*do i speak in such a way that others would ask me if i am from Galilee, too?*3) v.38-39 the Spirit is streams of living water flowing within me - why do i seek the life others have when Christ has put the best life for me in me? how do i keep silent, like Nicodemus, until someone 'lesser' shows me up? when am i compelled to speak words or do things that make people mark me as 'another from Galilee'? the guards' response was that "no one ever spoke the way this man does" (v.46) - so they acted because they heard. i think Nicodemus acted b/c he heard the guards.
so to be able to act according to the stirrings of my heart i must listen - for when i listen to God, how can i help but be stirred - and then, how can i help but be moved to speech and action? like Jeremiah, my bones will burn w/ the message (Jeremiah 20:9)from other people's responses...
- at what point does thirst override fear?
Day Eighteen - 26 March
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."John 8:12-20The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid."
Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me."
Then they asked him, "Where is your father?"
"You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also." He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his time had not yet come.
1) "if you knew Me, you would know My Father" (v.19)
2) Jesus' confidence & assurance are so evident and it makes any that i have seem so lame - i get so frustrated when i'm not understood or not believed and i work all the harder to explain again and again. Jesus was not afraid to be misunderstood; He knew that w/o seeking they would never understand. i am afraid to be misunderstood; it makes me feel less confident. but i don't want to put myself and my beliefs on the foundation of the understanding of others' BUT on the foundation of God who knows me and knows where i came from and where i am going.
3) stand at peace on the foundation of the Father who knows me and knows where i come from and where i am going. "on Christ the Solid Rock i stand, all other ground is sinking sand." the Spirit is not a spirit of timidity but power and love and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7) and Christ has given us His peace (John 14:27) so we can be confident and at peace b/c the Spirit of God is w/in us!
from other people's responses...
- you can embrace mystery - you don't have to figure out everything
- He was at peace w/ where He was, His past, His destiny, His Father, others, Himself
- to judge is a lot different than passing judgment
Day Nineteen - 27 March
Once more Jesus said to them, "I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come."John 8:21-32This made the Jews ask, "Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, 'Where I go, you cannot come'?"
But he continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins."
"Who are you?" they asked.
"Just what I have been claiming all along," Jesus replied. "I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world."
They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him." Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him.
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
1) "who are You?" (v.25)
2) the last time Jesus spoke to the people they were divided; they were confused b/c they thought they knew Him and knew where He came from - here they say "who are You" and "many put their faith in Him" (v.30) so when they admit their lack of knowledge, when they are most confused, they can choose to hold to His teaching and finally be set free by the truth. what an amazing, gracious picture - how thankful i am to have a God who requires only confusion and blind faith to give me the freedom of truth - you don't have to be freed to have faith - you can have faith while bound in chains, but faith will lead you to truth and freedom as long as your faith is in Christ and His teachings.
3) hold to My teaching even when you do not understand it. don't always try to wrap your hands around it, make it fit into your world, for My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways (Isaiah 55:8). *pursue faith and you will find truth and be set free.*
"the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge" (Proverbs 1:7) and Proverbs 3:5-7 - the wisdom often comes through instruction or guidance and always in connection to God - it is not your own but from or through God. He does not ask us to be stupid, to always be blind - but we must admit that on our own we are blind, can be nothing but blind - then He gives us truth and wisdom and understanding - He frees us to knowledge and calls us to seek it because He calls us to seek Him. it's ongoing, this blind faith and wisdom - as long as we are on earth in our earthly bodies, we cannot fully know but we are to seek that full knowledge of Him - b/c one day He will be fully revealed for the veil shall be lifted.
Day Twenty - 28 March
They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?"John 8:33-47Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word. I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence, and you do what you have heard from your father."
"Abraham is our father," they answered.
"If you were Abraham's children," said Jesus, "then you would do the things Abraham did. As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the things your own father does."
"We are not illegitimate children," they protested. "The only Father we have is God himself."
Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."
1) "you have no room for My word" (v.37)
"the reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God" (v.47)2) i was just going to write how angry and shocked i'd be if i were a pharisee, having Jesus said those things to me, but i wanted to make sure it was the pharisees He was talking to and looked again at the passage. it actually appears that He is talking to "the Jews who had believed Him" (v.31) b/c v.33 says, "they answered". so now i am confused. did they not truly believe b/c they couldn't handle being called slaves, having to face not only their inability to understand but the fact that they were sinners, too? humility must be complete - mind, body, heart, soul. they cannot merely humble their minds as in the previous passage and yet not humble their hearts as shown in this passage. so the necessary task of coming humbly before the LORD is simple but not easy - it is a sacrifice larger than any other, i think. i feel a bit overwhelmed b/c i'm reminded that i will never fully grasp all that Christ says and all He is while here on earth.
3) i am not worried that i don't belong to God. since i was four years old, i have been God's child. but sometimes i think i am the other brother in the Lost Son parable who begrudges the celebration for his returned brother and the Father tells him everything the Father has, has always been the son's, also (Luke 15:31). the Son (Christ) has set me free, so i am "free indeed" (v.36). why do i not live in the fullness of that freedom? "humble thyself in the sight of the LORD and He shall lift you up." why get by with the little i can hold or think i have achieved? -reducing the room i have for God's word- why not give up all to gain all? *humble thyself - heart, mind, body, soul - before the LORD, today*
from other people's responses...
- i'm hearing Him so loud [being 'reprimanded'], i know i "belong"
- loosen your grip