Context: Jesus tells His disciples that they will grieve when He leaves, but He will send a counselor to be with them always.

John 16:22 – “So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” – Jesus

Observations:

• Now is the disciples’ time of grief
• Jesus will see them again (a promise)
• They will rejoice
• No one will take away their joy
• Several verses later we read: “Ask (in My name) and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”

Apply: My family has gone through a season of grief.  Though Jesus is speaking in a different context here, His heart to bring us joy is evident.  I need to ask for joy in Jesus’ name.

Prayer: Lord, in Jesus’ name, I ask for You to bring fullness of joy into my family.  Thank you for loving us through a season of grief.

Context: Jesus is talking about the abiding closeness of the relationship He desires to have with His disciples – so that their joy may be full.

John 15:12 – “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” – Jesus

Observations:

• Command not a suggestion or a request.
• Love one another.
• As I have loved you – sacrificial.  The next verse – “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

Application: I want to look for opportunities to love others (including members of my family) like Jesus loves me.

Prayer: Lord, through Your Spirit’s power, give me the ability to selflessly and sacrificially love.  Show me where I do not love and opportunities you give me to love.

Context: In the upper room discourse, Jesus has spoken of the future – heaven and the sending of the Holy Spirit.

John 14:18-19 – “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me.  Because I live, you also will live.” – Jesus

Observations:

• Jesus will not leave the disciples as orphans.
• Jesus will come to the disciples (offsetting their position as an orphans).
• The world does not see Jesus.
• The disciples were to see Jesus when the world did not.
• Because Jesus lives, the disciples were also to live.

Application:

I want to commit to memory: “Because I live, you also will live.”  I want to spend time meditating on His presence (not an orphan) and where I see Him.

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for giving me life!

S – John 12:43 – “(F)or they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.”

O – In the preceding verses, John recorded that many authorities believed in Jesus, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it.  In my own words, this verse tells me that the desire to receive praise from people can push me away from professing Christ.

A – I want to watch my life closely today.  I know that I want to receive glory from man.  I must not let that drive anything that I do.  I must work for God’s glory alone.

P – “Lord, I confess my selfish and sinful desire to receive praise from man.  Show me anything that I am doing or not doing that is motivated by that desire.  Grow my desire for Your glory alone.  May Your glory be what dictates my every move.”

S – John 10:37 – “If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me.” – Jesus

O – In John 10, Jesus has explained that sheep know the voice of their shepherd.  He then explains that he is God.  “I and the Father are one.”  The Jews accuse him for blasphemy.  Jesus basically says the proof is in the pudding.  Look at what I do.  What I do will prove who I am.

A – As a Christian I bear the name of Christ.  I must live out what I believe.  Specifically today, I want to do the works of the Father in my home.  I want my family to see Christ through me.

P – “Lord, if I am not doing Your works, correct me!  Help me to lead others to You through what I do.”

S – John 9:3 – Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

O – Jesus has just met a blind man that He will heal with mud, His saliva, and a wash in the pool of Siloam (which is currently being uncovered in Jerusalem).  The story will end with many people hearing the testimony of how Jesus healed this man.  In this verse, Jesus says that this man’s handicap was allowed so that “God might be displayed in him.”

Picture I took this year of the steps leading into the Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem

A – Rebecca and I have questioned why God has allowed a health issue in our family.  I want to claim this to be true for our lives.  That God has allowed this so that “the works of God might be displayed.”  I want to start praying now for clarity in how He wants to display His works through us.

P – Lord, I confess that I have questioned the battle You have brought us through.  I pray that You will allow us to see how You want to display Your works through this situation.  I also pray for healing to display Your power.

S – John 7:18 – The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of Him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.

O – This verse implies that we can determine whose glory someone is seeking based on what authority they speak on.  In addition, it states that seeking God’s glory is a mark of a teacher of truth.

A – Daily, I must guard myself from speaking on my own authority or seeking my own glory.  I must find my authority in God’s Word and seek to bring Him glory.

P – Lord, guard my heart and my life from seeking my own glory.  Never let me speak or do anything on my own authority (John 5:19).  May I speak on Your authority alone.  To Your Name be the glory! Make it true of my life!

S – John 4:42 -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.”

O – The woman at the well went into the city and shared what Jesus had spoken into her life.   Some believed from her words.  After Jesus came in the city and the people encountered him personally, they had heard for themselves.  They respond with “…we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

A – I need to daily encounter God personally.  In addition, I need to encourage those around me to not just take my word for it, but to meet Jesus personally.

P – Father, thank you for sending your Son to be my Savior.  Continue to let me hear it for myself and to encourage those around me to do the same.

S – John 3:20 – For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

O – People who do wicked things hate the light (Jesus – “the light came into the world”).  People who do not come to the light (Jesus) because they do not want their works exposed.

A – I have to live in the light!  I want to be someone who is not afraid of my works being known fully.  The farther I can stay away from darkness, the better.  Specifically, I must continue to be open with several men in real accountability and to live openly before God, my wife, my friends and the world.

P – Lord, expose me.  Shine light into my life.  Help me to live a life that does not fear coming to You, the light.

S – John 2:16 – And (Jesus) told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”

O – Jesus wanted the people to remove anything that was being traded for profit from the place where people worshiped.  He made the clear statement “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”

A – As a leader in a place of worship, I have to be careful to separate anything from the worship experience that is or could be seen as something done for financial gain.

P – Lord, help me to keep worship of You pure in my heart and at PCBC.  May I never seek to profit from worship personally.  It is all about Your glory and Your promotion.