JOHN
Believe and Live!
It’s GOOD to Know the Judge
25There’s a great deal of misunderstanding of what eternal life is. Many of us grew up on the good old King James Version which often translated it “everlasting life.” So it’s easy to get the idea that eternal life is talking about a length of existence. Eternal life really is a quality of life.
When Jesus Walks into Your Fears
28If Jesus cared so much for the disciples, why did He let them go out into a storm? And why did I have to go through this terrible struggle? Jesus knew the storm was coming; in fact He MADE them get into the boat. Jesus doesn’t pray for us to avoid the storms, He prays for us to endure the storms.
The Danger of Defective Discipleship
31Judas was one of the twelve disciples chosen to be a part of Jesus’ team. He had the other disciples fooled. He appeared to be a true disciple, but from the beginning, Jesus knew Judas was a deceiver. Judas followed Jesus. He saw the miracles of Jesus, but He never believed. His heart was never changed.
The Secret of an Overflowing Life
34There are many empty people—but they aren’t thirsty. The gasoline tank on my car has been empty many times, but it’s never been thirsty. There are people like that. They have a passing interest in the things of God, but there is no burning, blistering thirst of desire to know the deep things of God.
Where Misery and Mercy Meet
36What’s that in your hand today? Is it a rock and you find yourself being obsessed with a sense of always being cynical and hypercritical? You can’t have an open hand of grace as long as you’re holding on to a rock in your fist. The message the Holy Spirit has for some of you today is to drop your rocks.
Jesus: The Light of the World
37Light and life are connected. Where there is light there is life. God arranged our days in a way so there are hours of sunlight to wake and live and then He turns off the light by rotating the earth so we are in the shadow of the sun. He gave us night as a gift so we can sleep and recharge our batteries.
The Truth Will Set You Free; Or It Will Make You Mad
38Growing older in age doesn’t necessarily equate with growing deeper spiritually. There’s no magic pill for spiritual growth. But there are four spiritual disciplines you can practice consistently over a period of time that will result in spiritual growth.
Like Father, Like Son
39There is a difference in just believing in Jesus and truly receiving Jesus. You can believe in Jesus mentally, but still not have received Jesus to dwell in your heart by faith. You can only enter God’s family by being born again. Just as certain people have physical birthmarks, there are at least two spiritual birthmarks of a child of God.
Death Removed
40100% GUARANTEED The hope for immortality continues and will continue through humanity. There are many things you and I share in common, but the primary characteristic is that one day we will face death. Jesus addresses this reality that is coming to all of us, for all of humanity, that life here on earth as we know it will come to an end. It is guaranteed to happen. Not even the richest, nor the poorest, nor our economic or social status matters, because we will face death.
Here’s Mud in Your Eye
41It is true that all suffering is a result of sin. We all suffer from the fallout of the fall of Adam and Eve. And some people do bring about their own suffering, especially in the case of the who suffer from addictions. But according to Jesus, we are wrong when we try to find a cause and effect reason for every person who has a disability or is suffering.
The Blind Man’s Bluff
43BEASTS OF BURDEN The Pharisees criticized Jesus because He refused to obey the man-made rules about the Sabbath. In the time of Jesus, Jewish rabbis had taken a simple commandment, “remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy.” And had added hundreds of trivial regulations through the oral law and the Talmud. What God had intended as a Sabbath blessing they had turned into a Sabbath burden.
The Tragedy of Spiritual Blindness
44EARS SHUT, EYES CLOSED, WILL LOSE. I don’t need evidence to believe Jesus is the Son of God, but when you present the evidence of the bodily Resurrection of Jesus, some people refuse to look at the evidence. When you give the irrefutable evidence that over 60 Messianic predictions in the Old Testament were precisely fulfilled by Jesus of Nazareth, some people don’t even want to examine the evidence. Their attitude is, “My mind is made up, don’t confuse me with the facts.” There is none so blind as he who will not see.
What’s So Good About the Good Shepherd?
46ONE FLOCK I believe that when we get to Heaven we are going to be surprised with the diversity of people there. We think of America as being a Christian nation, but in Heaven we will make up on a tiny minority of people who have been redeemed through the ages. There will be one flock and one shepherd.
Once His Lamb, ALWAYS His Lamb
47THE ULTIMATE CONFIDENCE When you KNOW you are saved that gives you the confidence and assurance to serve the Lord with gladness. It’s a great blessing to be saved. But it’s a greater blessing to be saved and SURE that you’re saved! Then you can work with confidence knowing that “underneath are the everlasting arms.”
The Transforming Truth About Jesus
48MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE The truth about Jesus isn’t just something to believe. It isn’t a set of facts to INFORM you, it is life-giving truth that TRANSFORMS you. Belief that doesn’t affect your behavior isn’t true belief. If you believe Jesus is God it will affect your relationship with everyone you meet.
God’s Delays Are Not God’s Denials
49I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR PATIENCE! Have you ever asked God for something and you needed an answer right away? Maybe it was for the healing of a loved one, or the resolution of a problem. And although you were needing an answer quickly, you didn’t get it? We sometime struggle when God delays. But we are going to learn that God’s delays are not God’s denials.
Who’s in Control Here?
52KINGS AND DONKEYS God is in control. He can even use an evil leader like Caiaphas to speak His truth. And if God can use him, that means he can use any of us as well. God used a pagan King like Nebuchadnezzar as his instrument to punish the Jews. God even once used a donkey to deliver His message.
Clean Feet in a Dirty World
58SECURITY Once you come to Christ, that relationship is secure forever. God is your Father and you are a child of God. Nothing can change the relationship. But as we walk in a dirty world, we sometimes still stumble into sin. So to stay in fellowship with the Lord we come to Him and regularly confess our sins to Him.
The Promise of Peace
63BATTLE WEARY Life is a series of battles. Right now we are battling the effects of an invisible enemy called Covid-19. And we’re battling all the side-effects of it. There are emotional, spiritual, and economic side-effects. But as followers of Jesus, we must remember that we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
How to Treat Your Friends and Enemies
66SACRIFICE FOR A FRIEND Are you willing to lay down your life for your friends? It may not mean that you have to die. It could mean that we lay down our wishes and desires in order to fulfill the wishes and desires of our friends. It means you’d be willing to sacrifice, time, money, and energy for a friend. Jesus is such a great friend that He literally laid down His life for us.
The World’s MVP
69PASCAL’S WAGER Is death the end and there is no afterlife as Dr. Stephen Hawking claimed or as Billy Graham said, is there an afterlife where we may spend eternity with God in a place called heaven? Both of them cannot be correct. And the most important decision in your short life is to decide which position is correct.
What in the World am I Doing?
70Every time we go and share the good news, we are setting people free. This is the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and how beautiful are the feet of those who go, because these are beautiful sounds to those who are in captivity, those who are in desperate need of the gospel.
The Day Death was Buried
81PUBLIC SECRET Maybe you consider yourself a secret disciple because you’re afraid of what others may think of you if you told them. There really isn’t any such thing as a secret believer. Either the secret will destroy the belief, or the belief will destroy the secret. In Nicodemus’s case, his love for Jesus destroyed the secret and he spoke up for Christ.
A Tomb with a View
82Matthew 28 tells us it only took one angel to remove the stone from Jesus’ tomb. Angels are so powerful that I imagine him taking the stone and tossing it away like a Frisbee. But don’t miss this point: the stone wasn’t removed so Jesus could escape: He was already alive. The stone was removed so that all the world could look in and see that the tomb was empty.
My Lord and My God!
84MISSING THOMAS For whatever reason, Thomas spent an entire week missing out on Jesus’ appearance to the other disciples. He missed the peace Jesus had given them. He missed the presence of Jesus and the prayer for them to receive the Holy Spirit. He missed Jesus’ command to go out into the world. In his mind, Jesus was still dead and buried.
Sharing the Lord’s Breakfast
85The disciples’ failure was not a display of their weakness, it was just an opportunity for God’s strength to be seen in greater ways. Because of their failure, God gave them the opportunity to experience His fullness. Audio & Video: Michael Gossett; Transcript: David Dykes.
The Beauty of Restoration
86NO GREATER LOVE When we talk about laying down your life for others, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you die for them. It may mean that you call up that shut in neighbor and offer to bring some groceries. It may mean that you rake the leaves in the yard next to your house.
Believing: Life in His Name
87John’s Gospel account is different from Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Each of those three writers follows a chronological time line of the ministry of Jesus. But John organizes his story around seven signs, seven miracles. Final message in the John: Believe and Live! series.