Spade Work: Day Fifteen.

  John 15:4 “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” 

 To remain in Christ is my main objective. The fruit I bear is the results of the effort I have put into my relationship with Christ. I have started to realize that the times where I see no fruit for my life, correlate with my spiritual dead times. In order for me to be the most fruitful I need to be in line with my savior. 

Discipline has to happen in our lives. Something that I understand is reading scripture won’t happen unless I pick up the bible. Praying doesn’t happen unless I find time to get alone with Jesus. 

 

Spade Work: Day Fourteen.

Todays reading was an encouraging time for me. One of the best parts about todays reading was all the words of Jesus. Chapter 14 is basically a whole chapter filled with the red letters. Even though words not from Jesus are important, when I read the words of Jesus my radar goes up. 

I picture myself sitting at the feet of Jesus just listening to all the wisdom. The part of the chapter that got me was the “Role of the Holy Spirit”. For the disciples this had to be so confusing with Jesus standing right there in front of them. As for me reading the complete story I can praise God for the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

The questions I started to ask myself are: Do I look to the Holy Spirit for guidance? In what areas of my life can you see the work of the Holy Spirit?

Spade Work: Day Thirteen.

John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Jesus demonstrates his love for his disciples by washing their feet. This was a nasty job because of the constant walking in the dirt. Jesus the Son of God got on his knees and washed their dirty feet. This was a sign of complete humility. After Jesus did this humble act he commands all to do the same for others. 

I have experienced this a few times in my life. Going on my mission trips to Jamaica the leaders are given the chance to wash the students feet. During the time of washing it makes me realize the dirtiness of this act. Jamaica is a dirty and dusty place. To think King Jesus got down and washed these feet blows my mind. It puts me in my place and gives me a passion and desire to give everything I have for Jesus.

Spade Work: Day Twelve.

John 12:43 “for they love the praise for men more than praise from God” This chapter in my eyes is all about the “Mans sinful Heart”.

Here is a women who is on her knees giving everything to Jesus, and yet a selfish man questions her action. Judas didn’t get it and a lot people today don’t get it. The next place I see this darkness is in the reaction of the Pharisees. Here they are throwing a dinner for Jesus. People are coming from everywhere to see Jesus and Lazarus. These Pharisees start plotting Lazarus’ second death because more people stared to believe in Jesus who did miracles. They are more worried about getting put out of the Synagogue the seeing Jesus for who he is. Complete selfishness. 

I am so glad that God has given me a chance. I hope that if I were back in lazarus’ day I would be the one  flying to fall at Jesus’ feet. I know a lot of people that fall on the side of Judas and the Pharisees. It is up to me and fellow Christ followers to talk to these people and show them the light. The depravity of men is evident everywhere in culture. The good news is nobody is helpless. As long as people are hearing the good news of Jesus, men and women everywhere have an opportunity for eternal life.

Spade Work: Day Eleven.

 The miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the grave is simple put “Incredible”. I love this story in the bible because it shows a side to Jesus that we haven’t seen until now. There was such extreme pressure put on Jesus by everyone in this story. You constantly read people saying “If only you would have been there Lazarus wouldn’t have died.” Jesus knew how much he cared about Lazarus. In verse 35 we see Jesus wept over Lazarus. Jesus with the weight of the world on his shoulders, trying to do exactly what the Father desires for him is put into so many hard situations. One of the interesting things about this story is that Lazarus is dead for 4 days. I thought about Jesus and how he rose on the 3rd day. Lazarus holds the title for being dead the longest and coming back to life. 

The last thing that I thought about as I read this chapter was “How do you react when you see someone come back to life?” I mean seriously do you run up and hug a guy that has been a in a tomb for the last four days? Do you immediately start dinner and throw a party for him? I am not really sure how I would react to a dead man walking out of a tomb no matter what relation I have to the person. 

Jesus is a life giver. Jesus raised me and gave me new life back in ninth grade. All through John you see Jesus doing these miracles and it is almost like he is pre-gaming for the big show. Jesus isn’t some man who preforms magic tricks and mysterious miracles here and there. He is the life giver. He holds the same power that created the heavens and the earth.

Spade Work: Day Ten.

John 10: 11;14 ” I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me. 

It’s interesting that I have always heard and read about Jesus being the Shepherd and yet I really never thought about what that really looked like. Shepherd falls short of the picture I have of Jesus in my mind. The power that Jesus holds can make you stop and think “No Way”. He did miracle after miracle. The book of John is filled with stories of amazement and jaw dropping acts. The picture that comes close in my mind is Superman or some loving super hero that holds all the powers to the universe. But…. It’s not the picture that is shown. It’s a Shepherd.

Jesus is my Shepherd. He led me to the waters when I was thirsty. He laid his life down for mine. I was the lost sheep on the edge of the cliff. If it weren’t for my shepherd who called my name I would have surely died. The shepherd is a strong and courageous figure. Yet humble and patient waiting, watching, counting his sheep. My shepherd is always active. He is moving and guiding my heart in the right direction. My shepherd will not deceive me or lead me in the wrong direction. My shepherd keeps watch over me at all times. He keeps me safe from eternal harm and always leads me to correction. 

I have never appreciated the image of the shepherd so much until today. I praise God to be one of his sheep. I praise God that he hears my voice and I can respond. I am desperate to hear God call. I want to follow him until my last day as a sheep. We all know sheep are pretty stupid and I need to keep reminding myself that “If I can’t hear the shepherds voice, I have gone to far“.

Spade Work: Day Nine.

Jesus did some really incredible miracles back in his time on earth. None greater than the one preformed in chapter Nine. Jesus meeting this blind man on the road decided to heal him from his blindness. This man was blind from birth which you figure out after the Pharisees nail his parents with questions. The best part of the miracle for me is the spit. I mean come on. Did Jesus really need to spit into some mud and put it on his eyes to heal this mans sickness? No. 

I love that Jesus did as his father instructed. He made people turn their heads and ask why. That’s why you continue to see these religious men confused asking all the wrong questions. I can just picture it now as Jesus bends down picks up some mud and spits in it. The disciples around him at this time were probably thinking to themselves “Has Jesus lost his mind?” Yet Jesus knew exactly what he was doing and why.

I need to proclaim Jesus’ greatness. He did to many amazing things for me to sit back and not share stories to others. Jesus keeps pushing me to a more intense walk with him.

Spade Work: Day Eight.

“Then neither do I condemn you, Jesus declared. Go now and leave your life of sin.” This is an awesome peace of scripture that I hold onto deeply. This should relate to everyone who has sinned. There is a couple different thoughts I had while I was reading this text.

The first thought being that I tend to judge people. I can picture myself as one of these high and mighty men bringing this woman before Jesus. Stone Her! Stone Her! People started to pop in my head that I have said something about in judgement. I am not sure why I find myself stooping to that level. I guess it is a defense mechanism that I put up so no one can see my sin or my faults. I hate that I am apart of such filth. Jesus wants nothing to do with my judgement of others. Jesus is in the business of forgiveness. 

The second thought was just that “Forgiveness”. I remember the day that I was brought to me knees as Jesus forgave me of my sins. He didn’t stone me and strike me down right then and there. In my spirit he said “Get up and leave that life of sin behind”. Wow. Christ act on the cross still puzzles me to this day. The way he rose again in three days still excites me to this day. I love Jesus because he forgave me and He died for a judgmental sinner like myself.

He is a great God and it is a pleasure to serve Him.

Spade Work: Day Seven.

John 7:6-8, “Therefore Jesus told them, “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.”

We see Jesus here laying it out for his friends. He is not able to go to the Feast because the Jews want to kill him. He knows that it is not his time yet so he has to stay away for the time being. I love the part in this verse when Jesus says “For you any time is right”. This is powerful because Jesus’ life is on the line. For them they could go as they please and talk and be around anyone they want. For us today we are not under the pressure that Jesus was under. We can go and talk to anyone as we please. How lucky are we that our lives are not on the line when it comes to sharing our faith with people?

We have no excuse to hide from our witness. If nothing else we should be embarrassed when we see in other countries people dying for Christ. I sometimes wonder which disciple would I more be like back then. Would I be there follower who would do anything for Jesus? Would I be the one who back stabs and sells Jesus out? (Hope Not) I am challenged to be a better Christ Follower.

Spade Work: Day Six

Today I was reading in chapter six and was drawn to one concept. God calling in our lives. The drawing of the Holy Spirit. There is no doubt that I sat and praise God that he called me to him back in ninth grade. I am going to come back and write more about this tomorrow. Jesus through this study in John has brought me to a place of amazement. I wish I could have walked and talked with Him. What a privilege it was for the disciples.