There has been a lot of emphasis of imitation from Jesus to His disciples. As Jesus prepares to depart, He is reinforcing them with what they must do in order to continue Jesus' mission of bringing the Kingdom of God forward. To this effect, Jesus brings up an analogy that they would have a decent amount of understanding about. Vineyards and vines were a major part of the ancient Mediterranean lif...

The image Jesus draws in this passage is a clear one. He is still in conversation with His disciples, which is an important thing given some of what Jesus is saying here. Many people believe that Scripture has to apply to all people at all times. That simply is not true, and this passage will demonstrate that.Jesus introduces Himself as the true vine, and His Father as the vine dresser. He then, i...

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in...

I encourage you to pray for the Lord's peace. Accept what He desires to give to you. Lay your anxieties before Him. Call them out by name and rejoice in the Lord. Acknowledge by faith that the Lord desires for you to have peace in Him. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.......

As I shared in yesterday's devotion, fear and focus go hand in hand. I have found for myself that those times of anxiety are most dominant when my focus is off of the Lord. Even worse, I find it thrives when focus is upon myself. Consider these verses:3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you lo...

Scripture deals with a lot of difficult moments throughout time. We see wars, persecutions, famines, and the like. We also see the Lord wanting to protect His people and encourage them. We see Him give His people peace in the midst of turmoil, and hope in the midst of judgment. Especially as I read through John, I see this trend of Jesus desiring for His disciples to be encouraged despite the surm...

The lesson for the original audience comes out of the question that Judas is asking."Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?"-John 14:22The response is two-fold to this. Jesus will be made manifest in their love, and Jesus will be made manifest by the Holy Spirit who is to be given to them. This provokes the desire to walk in love and to bear the Spirit within ...

Similar to the previous week, there is an overarching theme throughout the book of John that emphasizes belief, love, and obedience. All of these are still present here. Something that I find to be interesting as we look at these is the gut reaction to try to carefully handle the obedience topic to prove that I am not talking about a works based salvation. I'll instead make a very clear statement ...

This section continues off of the interaction that Jesus is having with His disciples. Judas, who is specified as not being Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus, presses Jesus on more questions. The last thing Jesus had said is that He would manifest Himself to His disciples. So Judas presses into this. He asks how Jesus would manifest Himself to them but not to the world? Judas caught on to...

22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.25 “Th...

Pray for an increase of a measure of faith and trust in the Lord. Pray that the Lord would send His Holy Spirit to you. Pray for wisdom and strength to walk out His commands. Take this time with the Lord and give Him thanks.......

So we have discussed both the cycle of faith -> love -> obedience. We have also discussed the need of the Holy Spirit and the benefit Jesus sees in sending the Holy Spirit. The action plan of these lessons marry together. Scripture seems to infer to some degree that the receiving of the fullness of the Holy Spirit is contingent on some degree of faith and obedience. This is not to say that you get...

Depending on who you talk to, the Holy Spirit takes one of two roles. Either He is the most neglected person of the Trinity, or He is the most overly emphasized person of the Trinity. In my more recent experiences among believers, I have seen the neglect of the Holy Spirit. Something this passage stirs in me is that desire for the Holy Spirit.It is so easy to get caught up in works and the things ...

Aside from the nature of the Holy Spirit, the original audience would pick up on the three things that Jesus is instructing them in. Believe. Love. Obey. Our minds tend to be more formulaic whereas the minds of the ancient readers were more cyclical. They would have noticed the pattern here that is more easily missed to us. If you believe, you will love. If you love, you will obey. You obey becaus...

There are many connections to be found throughout this passage, but I want to zero in on Whom Jesus says will come after Him. I want to address a larger biblical theme and then also address the role that Jesus says He will take. This is all that of the Holy Spirit.Let us look back towards Moses and Elijah. These are the representatives of the Law and the Prophets. We see them appearing with Jesus ...