The Book of John

  John 8:21-30 Jesus talks about His death; some think He's suicidal but He's not.  He just knows and He knows His Father is okay with it!  This is when obedience gets tough!!! Lord Jesus, thank You for Your obedience.  Lord, it's not always easy to obey the Father but He knows the end result.  Please give us the courage and faith to obey You.  In Your might name. I'm reminded of Elisha on top of Mount Carmel; challenging those that didn't worship You.

  John 8:12-20 Imagine Jesus teaching at the temple.  In this passage we see that the folks just don't get that God is His Father and that He came from heaven.  Lord Jesus, please help us to believe in You.  In Your might name.

John 7:53-8:11   This is interesting scripture at they say manuscripts don't have it in. (maybe because the disciples had gone home so they weren't around to witness it).  It's also interesting that it's only a woman who has been caught in adultery; shouldn't the man be there too?  This story is also less about the woman and more about a trap for Jesus so Jesus answered wisely.  It does however, beg the question, how do we handle discipline in the church?  A man raped his daughter and his daughter's mother was a minister...so to protect the mother they let him go quietly...but he question the decision and fortunately decided to stay away from children.  Discipline and grace are two important aspects for our growth and we need both.  In this case Jesus provided grace but He told the woman to sin no more.  As scripture says   “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial.  “I have the right to do anything”—but...

  John 7:45-52 The guards didn't arrest Jesus because they were impressed with His teaching but the Jewish leadership didn't believe He was the Messiah because they rightly thought the Messiah was to come from Bethlehem... what they didn't clue into is that Jesus was born in Bethlehem! Lord Jesus, please help the our church leadership to get all the facts.  Help them to understand the history as well as the present.  Give them wisdom and direction.  In Your mighty name.

  John 7:25-44 Is Jesus the Messiah.  This is the question! The Jewish leadership was leaning towards no but others saw that He was speaking publicly,  He performed miracles that could not be explained away and His teachings won many over. The problem was they didn't clue in that He was born in Bethlehem so they were confused because the Messiah was to come from Bethlehem.  Was is actually pride and jealousy that kept the Jewish leadership from believing in Him?  He certainly gained a lot of respect when He said "38  Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” [ a ]   39  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. Lord Jesus, we know You are the Messiah.  Thank You for giving us Your Holy Spirit so we can obey the next little thing You tel...

  John 7:19-24 Folks don't know what to do with Jesus because He healed on the Sabbath.  Jesus points out that when you point your finger at your neighbour there are 3 more pointing back at you.  Jesus shows how the law's contradict each other (keeping the Sabbath holy or circumcising on the 8th day) and highlights the fact that we are to care for each other above the laws. Lord Jesus, there is a lot of conflict in churches over holiness and acceptance.  The truth is none of us are perfect in Your eyes.  We all have a lesson to learn but some of us are proud of getting perfect on our grade one exam when we are in grade ten!  Help us to just obey the next little thing You tell us to do.  If this is a concerned confrontation with someone who needs help in Your Kingdom give us the wisdom to know how to approach the individual.  If this is recognizing our weakness and learning to grow in our own faith give us the courage to do what You're asking....

  John 7:14-18 Jesus eventually did go to the Festival of Tabernacles and He started teaching.  Folks were amazed at His teaching and wonder how He got so educated so He explained.  His Father, that is God, gave Him the words to say.  Jesus went on to say you can recognize folks who are speaking on God's behalf because they don't honour themselves, they honour God. Lord Jesus, we want to represent Your Father when we speak.  Help us to honour Him with our words and help us not to seek our own glory. In Your mighty name. Amen

  John 7:1-13 Jesus is "hiding out" in Galilee because in southern Israel; Judea, the church leaders wanted Him dead.  Jesus' brothers challenged Him to face His opponents so they could see what He was doing and ultimately Jesus went to Judea to the festival of tabernacles. Lord Jesus, please help us to be wise in where we go.  Give us the courage and wisdom to face our opponents knowing that our lives are planned by You.  Thank You for having the courage to go face Your opponents; even when it meant they would kill You.  You are an awesome friend and Saviour.  Amen

  John 6:66-71 As mentioned earlier Jesus never wanted to be popular.  He just wanted the truth about Him and His Father to be known.  In discussing this truth He lost many followers but He kept the 12.  Notice He chose the 12 that stayed but He called one the devil.  God choses the whosoever, even the devil, to follow Him. Lord Jesus, thank You for accepting everyone.  Thank You too for giving us the Holy Spirit to help us clean up our act.  Teach us how to please You for the sake of the Kingdom.  In Your mighty name.  Amen

  John 6:52-65 From this passage we can see where communion comes from but it's still a hard passage. It even says so in verse 60.  Understanding the spiritual dimension is tricky because it's beyond the 3rd dimension.  What we do know is we need food to sustain our physical lives just like we need spiritual food to sustain our spiritual lives...and Jesus is telling us He is our spiritual food. Lord Jesus, this is a hard teaching so we need Your Holy Spirit to help us to understand it.  Would you interpret Your words to us  In Your Holy name.  Amen. 

  John 6:45-51 Jesus is trying to explain who He is.  He's trying to explain spiritual matters with physical illustrations.  He is the the bread of life and with Him we can inherit eternal life! Lord Jesus, this is a hard teaching because You died as well as followers of You yet we know You had power over death.  Help us to trust You with our Spiritual nutrients.  In Your mighty name. 

  John 6:41-45 Jesus consoles Himself and the disciples by recognizing that people only come to God if God has chosen them.  The truth is some people just don't get that Jesus is God.  After all, they knew Mary and Joseph.  Lord Jesus, we want to be chosen and we want all of our friends, family and neighbours to be chosen.  You have said that "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever     shall not perish but have eternal life."  We know there is a conflict with being chosen and free will but we're asking Lord that You intervene in the lives of those in our sphere of influence such that they have every opportunity to accept You. In Your mighty name.  And Jesus, if we can help, not hinder, in away, please guide us. Amen

  John 6:36-40 Jesus is seeing a whole bunch of people who have seen Him but don't understand that He's God.  He's encourage though because He knows His Father will give to Him everyone who believes and His Father will help people believe. Lord Jesus, we believe help our unbelief.  Amen