Why do you need Jesus?
This week’s devotions are based on Week 2 of the Fresh Start Series: I Have a New Perspective (WATCH HERE)
Why do you connect with Jesus?
A crowd of over 5000 people had just participated in one of the greatest miracles of all time. A young boy was the only one who came prepared to stay for lunch and had two small fish and five loaves of bread. Before he even had the chance to settle on the hillside and eat his lunch, did a grown man ask him to get up and take his lunch to the one everyone came to see. Soon his small lunch was being blessed by Jesus and then being distributed to everyone there…yet to his and everyone’s amazement, the two fish and five loaves filled the bellies of 5000 men plus women and children.
What a great thing to come out to see and hear Jesus and have your lunch provided for you. It probably solved a few arguments of husbands and wives as to who was responsible for forgetting to pack a lunch and made a few parents happy as their hungry children were quieted with food for their tummies.
While it seems that all who were there should have dropped everything and discovered more closely who Jesus was and what he came to do, it appears that a good number of them sought to follow Jesus for one simple reason: We want another meal.
The perspective of Jesus that many latched on to was this: We will never have to cook dinner, prepare food, or do the hard work of growing it. If we hang out with Jesus he will give us our fill of bread and fish.
John 6:26,35 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. … 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
From what Jesus says afterwards, it seems like they even dismissed his miracle and simply wanted a “bread king” who would provide for their physical needs and had no concern for the spiritual problem.
Do people have this perspective today? For sure. In fact even some in the Christian realm can carry this perspective. We may not say it outright, but by our actions we expect Jesus to show up and take care of our physical needs much more often than we expect him to show up and take care of our spiritual needs. How can we tell?
It shows up when we get upset that we are dealing with a physical issue (hunger, illness, body aches, etc.) and Jesus is not doing anything about it. People have left Christ and his Church because they felt like Jesus didn’t answer their prayer. They overlooked his miracles and what his mission really was because he didn’t provide the “bread” for their bodies.
They and we at times need a new perspective. Jesus gives it. He said in essence, “The bread for your hunger is not what’s important. The witnessing of a miracle I do, you can miss that too. But what I don’t want you to forget is that the primary purpose of me coming to this earth was to feed your soul with spiritual food that will never leave you hungry.”
Jesus certainly desires to hear our requests to meet our physical needs, but let our perspective always be that his primary purpose is not just to feed our bellies, or to do miracles, but to bring our souls what they really need: his love, grace and forgiveness.
Apply: What is your perception of Jesus and his role in your life? What happens when the purpose of Jesus becomes first and foremost the feeder of your soul versus just the feeder of your stomachs?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for reminding me of what is most important: the food you give to my soul. AMEN
Don’t miss the point!
This week’s devotions are based on Week 2 of the Fresh Start Series: I Have a New Perspective (WATCH HERE)
John 5:39 You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
You can study the Scripture and miss the whole point.
Many individuals in classrooms of secular learning have opened the Bible to study it as a historical document. They have diligently read, studied hard, and offered “educated” opinions on authorship, age, and authenticity. They evaluated the text from a historical critical point of view which left question as to whether it is genuine to the time period or an insertion or change later in time. Tests were taken. Papers were written. But many if not most, missed the point.
Many individuals in classrooms of religious learning have opened the pages of Scripture and memorized the people and the history of the book. They have learned to spell the books of the Bible, perhaps even memorized a good number of passages. They too have discussed the detail of Bible stories, the interplay of God with humanity and mused about the meaning of it all. But there too many miss the point.
Many individuals in the quiet of their own homes read the Bible out of question or curiosity. Perhaps many with a genuine intent to get help with a problem, find the secrets to life, or determine if current news headlines are fulfillment of Revelation’s words have spent hours in contemplation and days of deep thought. Others have mined the pages for the moral code to follow to get a better standing in the afterlife, make sure they are “good with God” or otherwise find the pathway to heaven based on the performance of their lives. Unfortunately they have missed the point as well.
Diligent study of the Scripture without the Spirit-given focus on Christ is a study in academia or a personal quest for understanding and guidance, but it misses the point of which all of Scripture testifies.
With the wrong perspective, we will miss the point.
As Jesus interacted with the religious leaders of his day, he knew they were diligent in their studies of the Scripture. They spent countless hours seeking to understand the patterns and behaviors of life that would earn them a spot in the presence of God. Their intentions were real, and their effort strong, but Jesus clearly says, “You are missing the point.”
They refused to see Jesus as the Messiah and fulfillment of all the Old Testament scriptures and as a result they refused to believe that Jesus was the promised one and the only way to enjoy the eternal life with God that they were seeking.
We don’t want to miss the point. By God’s grace he opens our eyes to the very perspective that Jesus tried to get the religious people of his day to see: All of the Bible centers on and focuses on the saving life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. To miss Jesus in the Bible is to miss the whole point of the Bible. And when we miss the point of the Bible, we miss the joy, the peace, the grace, the forgiveness, that God gives us through his Son, recorded in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
But we wouldn’t have figured this out on our own. To see Jesus as the center and central message of the Bible, is a gift of God’s Spirit. It is only through the new perspective he gives that we can see the gift the Bible is, a gift that shows us that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Apply: Next time you read a section of Scripture, ask these questions: What does it tell me about Christ? What does it tell me Christ did for me? What does it tell me about what it means to live for Christ?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for your Spirit who gives me a new perspective to see all of the Bible as your Word of truth that points me to the One of all truth, Jesus, your Son! AMEN.
The Bible is not the word of men, but the Word of God!
This week’s devotions are based on Week 2 of the Fresh Start Series: I Have a New Perspective (WATCH HERE)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A record-low 20% of Americans now say the Bible is the literal word of God, down from 24% the last time the question was asked in 2017, and half of what it was at its high points in 1980 and 1984. Meanwhile, a new high of 29% say the Bible is a collection of “fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man.” This marks the first time significantly more Americans have viewed the Bible as not divinely inspired than as the literal word of God. The largest percentage, 49%, choose the middle alternative [Inspired by God, but not to be taken literally], roughly in line with where it has been in previous years. (https://news.gallup.com/poll/394262/fewer-bible-literal-word-god.aspx)
This July 2022 report from Gallup perhaps isn’t all that surprising considering what is going on in our society today. Yet, only one in five are willing to believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God. It would probably be worth a devotional series to answer some of the common objections to trusting the BIble is the word of God, but perhaps this one little statement from Philip and Nathanael will help to solidify or change our perspective to trust that the Bible is not the word of men, but the Word of God.
When Jesus called Philip to follow him, Philip was intent on going to find Nathanael. When he did, he said this:
John 1:44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
So how does this give credibility to the Bible?
Philip had the perspective that the Bible told the truth. By his statement to Nathanael it shows he was a student of the Books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) as well as the many prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and many others). The fact that Jesus matched the descriptions of the Messiah that were written many centuries earlier gives certainty that the Bible is not the work of man but the Word of God. Human authorship could never predict the coming of Jesus with such accuracy. Philip and Nathanael would never have been clear that Jesus was the Messiah without the accuracy of God inspiring Moses and the prophets to write of the Messiah, years apart, yet fulfilled with Jesus.
Nathanael’s reaction to Philip saying that Jesus was from Nazareth (Can anything good come from Nazareth?) is also an indication that Nathanael was a student of the Scripture. He knew that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem, the city of David. However, Isaiah also prophesied the Messiah would minister in Galilee, the region in which Nazareth was.
Isaiah 9:1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan—
The aspect of prophecy and fulfillment is a strong indicator of the divine origin of Scripture. While God used humans to pen the words, his Spirit guided every one of them to precisely be recorded. Why is this such a compelling reason for the Bible to be the word of God?
Professor Peter W. Stoner was Chairman of the Departments of Mathematics and Astronomy at Pasadena City College and Chairman of the science division at Westmont College. In his book, Science Speaks, Professor Stoner outlines the mathematical probability of one person in the first century fulfilling just eight of the most clear and straightforward Messianic prophecies.
Josh and Sean McDowell quote Stoner in their book, Evidence That Demands a Verdict:
We find that the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 10^17 (1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000).
In case you’re wondering, the Mega Millions had a $1.6 billion jackpot in October 2018, and the odds of winning it were merely 1 in 302,575,350.
Stoner went on to calculate the probability of one person fulfilling 48 prophecies: 1 in 10^157. (https://nickcady.org/2020/02/18/the-statistical-probability-of-jesus-fulfilling-the-messianic-prophecies/)
Philip and Nathanael knew they were seeing the fulfillment to many prophesies. While humanly impossible, they knew that not only were they in the presence of the Son of God, they had spent their lives studying the very Word of God.
Apply: What gives you confidence the Bible is the Word of God? What leads you to question that truth?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for giving your word to Moses and the Prophets so that we, like Philip and Nathanael, know with certainty, that you are the Christ, the Son of God, our Savior. AMEN.
Do you need a new perspective?
This week’s devotions are based on Week 2 of the Fresh Start Series: I Have a New Perspective (WATCH HERE)
This past fall I put on the black and white stripes of the basketball official and stepped back onto the basketball court, not as a player, but as an official. To be honest it was a little nerve racking the first few games as the rust of 20+ years of not officiating had to be knocked off. Some have asked, “Why?” As you know officials in sporting events are not always the most popular part of the game…but they are necessary. The game needs the officials to objectively as possible apply the rules of the game that each team has agreed to abide by. You are called on to make split second decisions of whether the rules were violated or not. You have the whistle, so you have to make the call.
But here’s a profound revelation: Not everyone will agree with you!
Why?
They have a different perspective. They may see something you didn’t. Their response is to what they saw…what they understand the rules to be…and probably biased to what team they are rooting for.
Here’s another profound revelation: Not every official gets every call right. AND…not every fan gets every call right either.
Sometimes it is a matter of perspective. Two or three sets of eyes on the court will see things at times differently than the hundreds of eyes watching the game from the bleachers.
Perspective matters.
We live life through a perspective that has been molded by learning and life experience. Perhaps that perspective is accurate, but not always. As we are open to it, we can broaden our perspective when we are willing to see things from another point of view.
When we see Jesus, we see things we have never seen before. We may have our views changed, our understanding deepened and our life more blessed when we see more and more life from Jesus’ perspective.
Jesus doesn’t just physically open the eyes of the blind, but he spiritually opens our eyes to see things about him and what he came to do that impact our lives tremendously. This was really his desire is to open the eyes of his first disciples to see things that had eternal consequence. They saw these things not just for themselves, but to then share with the world.
Nathanael was one of these individuals. Jesus found Philip and called him to follow as a disciple. Philip wasted no time to find Nathanael and let him know that the one they were looking for based on the Old Testament prophecies was found in Jesus.
John 1:43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
Nathanael’s perspective was about to change. He, like Philip, had been waiting for the Messiah. They knew what Moses said. They knew the prophets’ writings. But now they would see Jesus for the first time. And when they saw Jesus, they began to see things they never saw before.
I pray that as we walk with Jesus we let go of all of our perspectives that do not align with his. We may not always agree with them or like them, but we will trust that we need them. For when we see life through the lens of Jesus, we see life and eternity as Jesus meant it to be.
Apply: What perspectives about Jesus might change if you personally had the opportunity to meet Jesus?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for sending your Son and calling us to follow you so that we see things we would never see on our own and find joy in walking in your steps.
Enjoy the new…don’t go back to the old!
(This week’s devotions are based on Week 1 of the Series, “The Power of a Fresh Start!” WATCH HERE)
Don’t go back to the old!
Change can be hard. Have you ever received something new and it sits around for a while because it’s just hard for you to give up the old? I have tools in my workshop that I still have even though I have new ones. Maybe you get new clothes, but it’s hard to get rid of the old ones.
It can be this way with the new life God has given us in Jesus. There is something about the sinful nature in each of us that loves to still have influence in our hearts and lives.
Why? Because the new life we have in Jesus is not natural. Living according to our sinful nature is.
But the blessing comes from enjoying the new person we are because we are loved, redeemed, child of God.
The Apostle Paul reflects on the new person we become in baptism:
6 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
A big part of the new life is a new identity. Yes, sin still is a reality, but it’s ruling, enslaving influence is diminished. Sin no longer has to be our master and the consequence of sin no longer our fate. Just as Christ died for sin, so the power of sin over us is crucified. Just as Jesus was raised to a new life, so we are given a new life. But what does that new life look like? How does it contrast to the old?
Again Paul writes in Galatians 5:
Galatians 5:16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
The new person loves to keep in step with the Spirit and enjoy the blessing the fruit of the Spirit brings. However, the spiritual battle that is very real and raging every day makes being the new person God created us to be difficult. It’s easy to give up the battle and give in to the sinful flesh. It’s hard to walk by the Spirit.
The blessing in it all, is the Spirit of God gives us the power to do what he made us to do: walk with him. It’s tempting each day to go back to the old way, but with the guidance of God’s Spirit and the power of the Almighty God, let’s enjoy the new person God has made us to be!
Apply: What is the strongest pull in your life to abandon walking with the Spirit and allow your sinful nature to take hold?
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for giving me a fresh start and making me a new person in Jesus. Empower me to keep in step with your Spirit each and every day. AMEN.