Gleanings - John - Chapter 2

Reading John 1 was wonderful; many gleanings from the Spirit.  Chapter 2 contained many new thoughts as well.  I also chewed on thoughts that I've heard before.  Chapter 2 starts out with the story of the first miracle Jesus performed--turning water into wine at a wedding, His 1st display of His total mastery over the physical world.  He can alter matter.  Woah!!!

Verse 3 is an example of a previous teaching meditated on afresh.
   "When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to Him, 'They have no more wine.'

Now, I can't remember where I heard this (from Beth Moore or Nancy Leigh DeMoss or someone else), but whomever it was said that Mary just presented the problem to the One Who could do something about it.  She didn't beg.  She didn't tell Him HOW to fix it.  She just brought it to Him.  And then she waited, with expectation.  It reminds me of Psalm 5:3 "In the morning, O LORD, in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation."  Well, it wasn't morning, but the rest of the verse is there in this idea.  I love it.  Submissive expectant waiting SCREAMS faith.

I'm not sure how to deal with the whole interchange between Jesus and Mary.  It sounds like He is saying "No, Mom, I'm a grown man now.  You can quit trying to order things for Me in My Life.  I AM God, and I'll say when it is time to act."  But, He does something (maybe He had an expression on His face that let her know) that prompts her next statement.  She says to the servants, in verse 5, "Do whatever He tells you."  Again, she does not try to control or orchestrate what happens next.  (It is no secret that Mary is a better woman than I!  It seems like, in my prayers, I'm always telling God what I want, how I want it, and when I want it.  No wonder I get disappointed sometimes.  I want to take a lesson from Mary in this.)  So that's Mary's part.  Enter the servants.

Verse 7 "Jesus said to the servants, 'Fill the jars with water'"; (and without knowing what to expect) "they filled them to the BRIM."  These are servants who knew HOW to OBEY!  (I need that too!)  And because they obey, they are blessed to see His glory when He acts.

Verse 8 "Then He told them, 'Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.'  They did so."
Obedience, again.

Verse 9 "and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.  He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew."  Their obedience had positioned them for knowing deeper and being blessed.

So Mary wait with expectation, and she was blessed to see His glory revealed.

The servants obeyed fully in the process, and they were blessed to see His glory revealed.

And the disciples were there, taking this all in.  And when "He thus revealed His glory...His disciples put their faith in Him."

God's revealed glory ALWAYS results in our increased faith, IF we don't miss it.

My final thoughts on this part of the chapter were:  Not understanding 'how' God is going to act in a situation is not a lack of faith.  Even if I don't understand, I can obey to the fullest, like the servants did, and, thereby, open up my life to the blessing He desires to pour into it.

If Mary hadn't brought all her cares to Him (like He says to in 1 Peter 5:7 and Philippians 4:5-6) and if the servants hadn't obeyed Him to the fullest, playing their roles in the situation, they wouldn't have had the privilege of watching Him work through them.  And their faith wouldn't have grown as much.  And as I obey Him and watch Him work, my faith will deepen too.  Every time He 'comes through' for us, it serves to deepen our faith, to enrich it.

As my mom told me the other day, the longer you live and look back and see His provision, the more confidence in Him and courage you will have.  And life is a process of deepening faith.  You will never arrive until you step into His Presence at the end.  (And yet, in all my imperfection, He loves me!  Glory!!!)

Active remembrance of His Word and His deeds increases our faith, shores up our belief.  Verse 22 says, "After He was raised from the dead, His disciples recalled what He had said.  Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken."

My prayer:  Lord, break down, tear out the stronghold of fear in my life.  Replace it with confident, trusting, obedient belief.  Change me and give me victory.  Help me make the daily choices required to overcome this bondage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before I move on to the rest of the chapter, here is a song we learned recently in church that mentions this miracle and others.




One of my favorite lines says, "There's no one like You."  I love the bridge as well.  "And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us?  And if our God is with us, then what could stand against?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Between the 2 main parts of this chapter is tucked one little verse that I love.  Verse 12 says, "After this He went down to Capernaum with His mother and brothers and His disciples.  There they stayed for a few days."  How great is that?!  Jesus need a break to rest and refresh with friends and family too.  He needed down time with his loved ones.  He managed to minister even in that time I have no doubt.  They learned just by watching Him.  But He was there to enjoy them and to re-energize for His next public encounter.  He WAS fully man, as well as fully God.  AWESOME!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next event in the chapter is when He went to the temple and kicked all the money-lenders and sellers out.  Bold.  Authoritative.  Verse 17 sums it up best, "Zeal for Your House will consume Me."

The 'powers-that-be' wanted a sign to back up His authority.  Here's the one He gave them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in 3 days (verse 19)."  Of course, they didn't get that He was talking about the Temple of His body.  (I wouldn't have got it either.)

He was so courageous to go against any one who was not right, to His own peril.  "Why was He so courageous?" I wondered.  I struggle to be courageous.  So I want to find 'the secret'.  I think the answer was in verse 19.  He knew what He came to do, and He knew what the 'end' would be.  Yes, He would lay down His life, but He would also 'take it up again' (John 10:17-18).  We know the end result too!  Heaven!!!  And so I pray for more boldness to exercise the authority He has granted me.  (Psalm 8:6  "You have give him (man) dominion over the works of Your Hands; You have put all things under his feet.")

It was NOT because He trusted in man's 'innate goodness'.  What a crock!  It says, in verses 24 & 25, "But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men.  He did not need man's testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man."  (And it wasn't good!  Genesis 6:5 "The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that EVERY inclination of his heart was ONLY evil ALL the time.")  He was even talking about people who profess belief in Him in this instance.  He has seen us in action since we were created.  We cannot deceive Him.

He knows me.  Every last blemish, wrinkle, laugh line, wart, etc.  I cannot deceive Him.  He knows how completely untrustworthy and fickle I can be.  I'm so grateful that He is the complete opposite and is totally trustworthy, and that He has covered me with His righteousness.

 One final Scripture to encourage us all to cling to His Word:

Psalm 12:6-7a(amplified) "The words and promises of the Lord 

are pure words, like silver refined in an earthen furnace,

purified seven times over.  You will keep them

and preserve them, O Lord..."

Peace & Rest

Soon I plan to do word studies on peace and rest.  I think these are the byproducts of trust and belief.

And OH how I long to be peaceful, consistently.  And OH how I long to rest in Jesus.  I feel I too quickly lose these blessings whenever circumstances feel terrorizing.  I serve the same God Who works on my behalf regardless of circumstances.  He promises to take care of me through every circumstance.  Yet my flesh freaks out in fearfulness so easily.

 And I'm sick of it!  

I feel my distrust is a slap in the face of the God I love.  He is utterly true and utterly trustworthy.  To worry that He will not live up to His Word is to call Him a liar.  In the old west, 'them's fightin' words!'  And how much more horrible to imply by my thoughts and actions that the Holy God is a liar.  Arrrggghhhh!

I am SO thankful that He knows that I am dust and that He is rich in mercy and in love.

It is ridiculous to me how I can believe Him SO completely about some things and not about others.  His veracity doesn't waver subject to subject.  But my trust level does.  Why?

Why?

Why???

Gleanings - John - Chapter 1

Well, 1 week into my plan,

I STILL LOVE IT!!!

Just started Chapter 2 today.

Looking forward to what God reveals.

Now for my Chapter 1 gleanings:

Before I get started breaking down what I learned by verses, I just want to throw in a warning disclaimer:  I am known to be wordy at times.  Also I want to share my favorite verse in the chapter:

v14 "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.  We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

So, here we go...

vv1-2  In the beginning was the Word, and Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.

These verses always swing my mind back to Genesis 1:1.  To the beginning of creation.  To where it ALL started.   God's love story with man begins there.  Where, knowing all that would happen and what His Son would have to suffer, He created us anyway.

AMAZING!

That leads to verse 3, which refers to the beginning of Creation confirming that v1 was alluding to it:

"Through Him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made."

This calls Hebrews 11:3 to my mind:  "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible."

Only God can create SOMETHING out of NOTHING!  And He created EVERYTHING out of NOTHING!  

Mind-boggling!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

vv4-5,9  In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it....The TRUE Light that gives light to every man was coming into the world."

1John 1:5-6 says:  "God is light; in Him there is NO darkness at all.  If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth."

John 3:19  "This is the verdict:  Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

He has given EVERY man the opportunity to walk 'in the light' with Him.  It is SO sad to me that most men will refuse to accept this gift.

(An aside:  I LOVE how I cannot think of 1 verse without several others popping into my head these days.  I attribute this to spending time in His Word on an almost daily basis for the last 5+ years.  I feel like, as I am thinking, the Holy Spirit is talking to me by inserting other pieces of the Word into my mind.  Thank You, Spirit!)

The KJV of verse 9 says:  "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man..."

This made me think of how we are filled with Him as we spend TIME with Him, and then He can pour forth from us, light spilling out all around us.

My prayer is that I will allow Him to help me to be an effective conduit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

v10  "He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.  :(

v12  "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God..."  :)  That's me.  WOOHOOOOOOO!!!

The Message version says:  "But whoever did want Him, who believed He was Who He claimed AND would do what He said..."

It is not enough just to believe that He is there.  We are to believe He can and will do what He says He will do.

IMPLICIT TRUST.  UNRESERVED CONFIDENT BELIEF.  My Goal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Verse 14 talks about Jesus being full of grace and truth.  Verse 16 says we have all received His fullness.  When I pondered that, my heart was thrilled to realize that because He fills me, I too am full of grace and truth in His empowering.  COOL!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As always, I was impressed with John's repeated denial of being the Christ and continued pointing people to the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world.  He did not get on a power trip and try to keep 'his' disciples.  He just preached repentance and sent them to Jesus.

It did strike me that, by referring to Jesus (twice) as the Lamb of God, he was indicating what role God was having His Son play at this time in history.  He wasn't coming as conqueror, yet, but as savior.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I got to verse 32, I was taken with the word abode that was used in the KJV to describe how the Spirit came down like a dove and remained on Jesus.  My mind flitted over to Chapter 15 of John, verses 4-5.  Abide means:  remain, dwell, continue sure or firm, endure, make yourself at home in.

"Remain (abide) 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.  I AM the Vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do NOTHING."

As I am typing, John 5:19 comes to me:

"Jesus gave them this answer: 'I tell you the truth, the Son can do NOTHING by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the father does the Son also does."

The Father, Son, Spirit, and I are all interconnected, and God expects me to utterly depend on Him for everything I do, down to my last breath.  If even Jesus did nothing without the Father, who am I to think I can walk independent from Him?

However, the great news is that WITH Him I can do EVERYTHING.  (Philippians 4:13 "I can do everything through Him Who gives me strength!)

WITH HIM:  Everything!

WITHOUT HIM:  Nothing!

WITH HIM:  Everything!

WITHOUT HIM:  Nothing!

WITH HIM:  Everything!

WITHOUT HIM:  Nothing!

Hmmmm?  Whatever shall I choose?

DUH!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The last verse that leaped off the page for me was verse 38, which says:

"Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, 'What seek ye?'"

And the disciples' answer to this momentous question was...

"Where are you staying?"   HUH???

The King of Glory asks what you are seeking when you are following after Him.

What is MY answer?

It needs to be:  YOU, Lord!!!

Is it?

Since I am just a weak-willed human, probably not.
But, I WANT IT TO BE!

And like King David in Psalm 27:8, I want to say,

"My heart says of You, 'Seek His face!'
Your face, LORD, I will seek."

2011 Bible Reading Plan

What to do, what to do?  I had the hardest time deciding.  But, I decided not to read through the whole Bible this year.  Whew!  That was a relief and a sorrow all at the same time.  I have read through the Bible for the past 5 years.  But, I felt like I was doing too much 'skimming' last year, just to get through the check off list.  I didn't have time to really stop and meditate, or I would fall behind.  THAT is not productive spiritually.  God's not interested in my checklist.  He wants my heart.

So I prayed.

And talked to the dh.

And prayed.

And talked to myself.  (Scary, I know.)

Background:  Our family has been watching/discussing the Truth Project at church on Sunday evenings.  In this series, Dr. Tackett was quoting the book of John and talking about all the 'nuggets' of insight you can find in that book.  So the idea came into my head to do what I had done with my friend Brandy once (only with all the John books).  She and I read through James chapter by chapter.  We read 1 chapter a week.  Then we discussed it.  Well...I don't have anyone to discuss with this time, but I still thought this method would be enjoyable.

So instead of getting the broad overview, this year, like a submariner, I am heading for the depths.  I read a quote that "Wednesdays with Beth Moore" sent me over on Facebook.  It says, "We live two miles wide and an inch deep.  We are totally caught up in a thousand different things, and not doing any of them well.  You and I become effective when we become selective."  I have been meditating on that, off and on, for about 6 months.  I want to be like a deep, refreshing well, not just a little trickling brook.  And this year's scheme will help me to accomplish that in God's Word.  Maybe it will help me to apply it in other areas of my life as well.

I figure it will take me about 1/2 the year to get through John, 1John, 2John, and 3John.  I will read Revelation as well, but I doubt I read each chapter of that for a week.  We'll see.  I also plan to read a Psalm each day and part of a chapter in Proverbs.  Each of those goals will be flexible.  If I am meditating on a verse and don't have time to get through the whole regimen, FINE!

FREEDOM!!!

I have been doing this for all of 5 days so far...and so far...I LOVE IT!

So, join me, if you'd like.  And whenever I post my nuggets, we can discuss it in the Comments option on here or over on FB.  Or you can just read what I'm learning and do the thing God has challenged you to do.  Either way, GET IN THE WORD!!!  It will work in you and change you and help you be like Jesus.

GOD'S WORD IS AMAZING!!!

AND

SO IS HE!!!

Almost 2011 Prayer

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve.

Another year is almost spent.

Have I done all You've asked of me?

Have I been faithful?

That is one of my fondest dreams,

one of my dearly held goals.

That I would be faithful to You.

Not in part, but in whole.

But, the only one that faithful is

YOU!!!

And You I am not!  

(Like everyone doesn't know THAT!)

But I would like to be as faithful as

possible given my human limitations.

I would like to know that You

are pleased with me and 

satisfied with my progress

on the road of faith.

Thank You for the HUGE grace You extend to me.

Thank You for sustaining me and providing for me.

Thank You for the blessings you have poured out on me and mine.

You are SO beautiful to me!

So wonderful to me!

My prayer is to love You more, serve you better, and be more faithful in 2011 than ever before.

So please help!

Because, without You, I can do NOTHING.

What God Thinks of You

by Donna Otto

It all begins with you---with your answer to God's call on your life.  So it helps to get an idea of what God thinks of you.  He tells you clearly in the words of Scripture.

1. He loves you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3; John 3:16).
2. He created you in His Image (Genesis 1:27).
3. You are His child (John 1:12; Romans 8:16; Ephesians 1:5).
4. He knows you intimately and by name (Isaiah 43:1; Matthew 10:30; John 10:3).
5. He made you exactly the way He wanted (Psalm 139:13-18).
6. He cared enough to give His only Son to redeem you from your sins (John 3:16).
7. You are a new creation in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 5:8; Colossians 2:13).
8. He wants you to trust Him to take care of you (1 Peter 5:7).
9. If you have children, He has a specific set of responsibilities for you (Proverbs 22:6, 23:13-14; Colossians 3).

(From:  Finding Your Purpose as a Mom)

Mirror, Mirror...

Proverb 31:30  "Charm is deceptive,

and beauty does not last, but..."

I turned 41 this year.  My face is beginning to be lined.  Some hair is turning gray, and my hair is getting thinner.  My hands are getting age spots.  So I am brought to the fleeting nature of physical beauty head on.

In addition to that, the Father recently made me aware of how I was using charm deceptively, acting to get maximum recognition for myself instead of looking for how I can bless others.  Uggh!

Conversely, the second half of verse 30 at work in my life.  "...but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised!"

God's Word:  Truth in ALL things.

The Word is my hand-mirror, showing me my true reflection.  Just as my bathroom mirror shows the physical me, the Word reveals with clarity the inner me.  In both cases, sometimes I like what I'm looking at, and sometimes I don't.  I'm so glad my spiritual mirror has the power to transform me into Christ's ever beautiful image.  It does not leave me the same as I gaze into to it, the way a physical mirror does.  It reveals my character, and then, it works with power in my life to perfect the blemishes therein.

I know the truth of Romans 7:18, "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out." (NIV)  And along with verses 24-25 of the same chapter, I proclaim, "What a wretched [wo]man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God---through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

Thanks be to God that He is daily at work in my spirit, giving me power to overcome my sinful tendencies.

• Philippians 1:6, 2:13  "...being confident of this, that He Who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus....  For it is God Who works in you, to will and to act according to His good purpose."

• Ephesians 1:19-20  "...His incomparably great power for us who believe.  That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead..."

• Hebrews 4:12-13  "For the Word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight."

• 1John 1:9  "If we confess our sins, He is faith and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

Some day, none of my charm will be deceptive because it will all be reflecting the character of Christ as I continue to place myself before the mirror of transformation, His Word.  I do not want to be like the man in James 1:22-25 who looks at himself and forgets what he looks like.  I want to be like the man who, after staring 'intently into the perfect law that gives freedom', does what he finds there.  I want to be a hearer and DOER of the Word.  I want to conform to its pattern.

Hebrews 12:2  "Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern

of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is---

His good, pleasing, and perfect will."

How do I do this?

Come, look deeply into the mirror, DAILY!

As Nancy Leigh DeMoss states:  "I cannot become the woman God wants me to be if I'm not spending time in His Word each day.  Yesterday's nourishment isn't good enough.  I need a fresh taste today." (A Daily Supply, Today's Seeking Him Journal, Revive our Hearts Ministry)