The House You're Building

      Orient  John 21:1-25 The final chapter of John, the book concludes with an appearance of Jesus to Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James and Joh, and two other unnamed disciples.  The men were fishing and Jesus calls them to shore for a meal.  In this chapter, a well-known dialog between Jesus and Peter occurs where Peter reaffirms his loyalty to Jesus which serves as a parallel to his trice denial.  The book then ends differently than the synoptic gospels, without the resurrection story but a brief conclusion by the disciple John.     Introduction I’m a fan of reality shows.  I think it all started in the early 2000’s with American Idol.  I love seeing non-celebrity reactions to extreme situations.  One I’ve watched for many years is the show Survivor.  A classic scene in most seasons finds the tribe members sitting around a fire eating fish as it is commonly one of the natural food ...

        Orient  John 10:1-21 Following restoring the blind man’s vision, Jesus begins a well-known discourse of spiritual leadership.  As the Pharisees had just shown themselves foolish leaders, Jesus teaches about His spiritual guidance through the metaphor of door and shepherd, contrasting Himself against the religious rulers.  Theological elements include His cross and resurrection, as well as His sacrifice bringing in Gentiles to faith.  As we’ve seen as a pattern to Jesus’ teaching, His discourse ends with division among the rulers.     Introduction Recently our family introduced a rescue-cat into our home.  Our other pet is a mild-mannered senior Weimi.  She’s lived with cats before and thinks that every visitor, human or otherwise, is part of her pack.  Last time we brought in an adult cat, they were friends in weeks, even snuggling together on the bathroom rug.  This exp...

Have you ever done something dumb? I laugh internally as I type that thought because if you didn’t mentally acquiesce answer in the affirmative than you just made your first idiotic move.     Foolishness resides in our sin nature.  It is easily noticed character flaw that makes us differ from God.  Even at the thought level God is superior to us [1] .  To be foolish means to lack good sense or judgement; to act on a whim without thinking of the consequences.                  The wisest of women builds her house,                         but folly with her own hands tears it down.-Proverbs 14:1   My current lack of discernment was birthed by pride.  Earlier in the week, some friends that I send weekly devotionals to gave me a compliment on my ...

  Have you ever thought about what it was like when God created the animals?  I’m a huge Harry Potter fan and one of my favorite parts is seeing how the artists in the films visually recreate some of my favorite magical creatures like hippogriffs and thestrals.  Imagine the whimsy of God, making the massive blue whale, the intricate hummingbird or the pieced-together platypus.  Not only inventing their physical characteristics but choosing their behaviors.  I on team dog because God made them loyal, sweet, and playful.    What was God thinking when He created sheep?  Did you know that sheep are mentioned more than any other animal in the bible [1] ?  Not only were sheep an important part of the ancient world’s economy, but God uses them in the Bible as an analogy of how we act.  It’s almost like God knew us and decided to design an animal that reflects our tendencies to show us our need for Him. Most ar...

Psalm Study 4:   Psalms 22-27   “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”   This sentence opens one of the most well known, memorized psalms in the Bible.   It encapsulates (summarizes) in one brief phrase who God is and what He does for us.   Our next six psalms in this study also describe who God is and what He can do for you to bring you comfort, peace, restoration and answers to your troubles.   Read Psalm 22 ·          Compare with Matthew 27: 38-46, Mark 15: 22-37, Luke 23:33-46, John 19:17-37, Hebrews 2:9-12, Revelation 19:5 ·          When Davis and Jesus cried out these words, where does this Psalm say God is? ·          What does Psalm 22 promise?   Read Psalm 23 and John 10:1-16 ·          How do these verses help you understand your relationship t...

Key Verse: So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”   John 10:24-30 ESV   Jesus loves to speak in analogies, giving us examples of things in this world we do understand to teach us about our faith.   In chapter 10 he uses the example of how sheep behave to show us we are like that in our relationship to God.   In his book A Shepard Looks at Psalm 23 , Phillip Keller gives us helpful things about s...