The House You're Building

[17] Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. [18] They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. [19] They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. [20] But that is not the way you learned Christ!—[21] assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, [22] to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, [23] and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, [24] and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.   [25] Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. [26] Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go...

        Orient   John 15:18-16:15 This section of Scripture contains more final words from Jesus to His followers after the Passover meal and before His arrest.  The content also outlines challenges we can expect as believers and how the Holy Spirit counters those situations, strengthening us for the hardship to come.  Jesus uses this opportunity to explain why it’s better He leaves to return to the Father.    Introduction It is an exciting scenario to imagine being one of the disciples.  What would it have been like to walk with Jesus, hear His teaching that isn’t recorded in Scripture, hang out with Him and share a private joke or two. Like the apostles, we would be a first-hand witness to all his miracles and see with our own eyes the people He healed and taught.  Every day would be a spiritual high; there would be no limit to the imagination of what God could do. What could bring them down in their fervo...

        Orient  John 14:1-31 Jesus continues His teaching in the Upper Room, giving His followers perspective before His imminent arrest and trial.  This section is considered a farewell discourse as Jesus gives final thoughts and his followers respond in sorrowful questions, not knowing what will happen.  Important teaching about the Holy Spirit is found in this section and can be regarded as a key passage detailing His unique work and personhood within the Trinity.       Introduction Bread broken and wine poured.  The One who cleaned their feet reclines with them at the table.   Judas the betrayer has just gone out to gather soldiers and a guard to assist the Pharisees to arrest Jesus.  Peter, who proclaimed He would never betray Him, is told this very night he would deny Christ 3 times.  Yet Jesus continues to teach and comfort His closest followers knowing that hours from th...

        Orient  For God So Loved The World Jesus continues his conversation with Nicodemus and begins by explaining why the Son of Man will be lifted up.  Ties to the themes in the prologue are found in the light/dark contrast shared by John to describe the nature of man and their deeds. Much of the language in these verses communicates spiritual truth using legal terms.  This section contains one of the most well-known scriptures in the Bible (John 3:16) because of its succinct summary of the gospel but is not always understood fully when taken out of context.     Introduction Human nature has fascinated people for centuries.  At the root of the academic fields of ethics, philosophy, psychology, and sociology, thinkers and scientists try to study and explain the motivations of humanity. Previously in John, we learn that Jesus knows what is in man [1] .  In today’s meditation, we hear the teaching of Je...