Month: October 2024

Singing Psalm 8 and 71 with Aaron Shust. “Oh Lord, my Lord, how majestic is your name In all the world, who is man that you remember him. Even when I am old and grey do not forsake me Lord”.

“Majestic is My name. I am described and My nature revealed by the names which I am known by in My word. Do you really grasp the meaning of the word Majestic? The full extent of My Majesty extends far beyond how I may look, to My Almighty power as Ruler and Creator of the Earth. I am everywhere, everything you see, handle, smell, taste experience – it all has my hand upon it. There is nowhere, nothing that is beyond my reach, after all I made it all and am still creating and sustaining everything. And within that I am inviting you into an intimate relationship with Me – made possible by the greatest love act in the history of the world – Jesus, my beloved Son’s sacrificial death upon the cross. The gap seems impossible for you to bridge, the power to do that, the power to understand it all comes from Me. Welcome to all of you as you draw closer to Me by My personal invitation through Jesus”.

We go on in John’s Gospel to chapter 8: 1–11. As John continues to reveal who this Man Jesus is, he re-visits the concept of condemnation vs 11, he had raised in chapter 3 : 17 and 18. Jesus makes it quite clear that His aim in coming to the world as a human was not to bring condemnation upon a people who had rejected Him. Instead He came with the idea to rescue us from the awful plight mankind is in. He came to rescue us in fact also from ourselves and all our evil intentions and the pain which spins off from that

It is clear from this passage that the Pharisees were using this woman who had been caught in adultery as a pawn in an effort to catch Jesus out in his interpretation of the law. They had no interest in her personal feelings or plight, or for the good name of Yahweh, they were simply using her to try and catch Jesus out. As far as they were concerned she was already written off as a human being and simply deserved to be snuffed out. However Jesus shows that no matter the sinful state of the woman she still mattered to him as a human, struggling and lost in a world which is broken.

This does not mean that He condoned her sinful life, as we read in His last words to her, “Go now and leave your life of sin.” vs 11.

I have been told by a neuro scientist that the human brain is programmed by default to keep comparing yourself to other people. This results in the way we see others and how we deal with them. This is mostly subconscious and we are usually not aware of it. It is a powerful force however and can clearly affect relationships on every level. Reading this passage reminded me of the importance of the Gospel power available to us through the Holy Spirit and the need to constantly reaffirm our attitude towards others of regarding everybody of deserving greater honour than ourselves. (Philippians 2:3).

I was also reminded of the importance of seeing each person we come into contact with as a human created by God in His image and no matter how difficult or evil they may seem to be, we should follow Jesus‘s example and not write them off or condemn them, but rather see them as deserving Jesus’s rescue and love.

May you continue to experience His love. Till next week then.

I am overwhelmed at the thought that the awesome, Almighty Creator of the whole universe, as large and as powerful, as magnificent in Majesty, should be concerned about me, about us – not only concerned but loving to the point of visiting us in human form to experience our lives and then to die on our behalf. What an awesome God we serve.

”If your eyes could only see, really see and perceive the vastness of My creation you would be even more taken aback, but I have revealed and am revealing enough that you can bury yourself in worship, that you can drown in the reality of all this. it is indeed a gift to have some insight into this universe – focusing on this world and the people in it. Each one known intimately by Me, loved to the utmost. The enjoyment I experience when they/you respond in worship and adoration. But also in being obedient and demonstrating your love for Me by loving one another. So – yes here I am in the midst of you all enjoying every minute of it”.

We continue in John ch 7 from vs 37. The key in this section comes in the second part of verse 37 and 38 as Jesus repeats the statement that he made to the woman at the well John 4:13. This closes the bracket around this whole section of teaching that Jesus is reported to have done. The main focus has been on his metaphor of being the Bread of life. Bread and water are the basic requirements for life. Jesus uses these metaphors to bring home to the listeners and us His very nature and purpose. Do you see that? He is the only provider of these essentials which are necessary for us to receive eternal life. Notice that it is not good enough to only know this, but one must actually partake of what he is offering. So we see in 6:53 that it is necessary to eat the flesh of the son of man and to drink his blood to have life and in today’s verse, it is necessary to drink of the living water to benefit from it. Notice also in vs 38 how Jesus equates drinking the water of life with believing in him. We have seen from the beginning of John how he has emphasised the role of faith in our developing and maintaining a relationship with Jesus.

To believe in him it is necessary to understand who he was/is. John is using the bystanders in their discussion about who Jesus is for us to draw our own conclusion. We can see here that there are basically two groups of people. One group who is for him and one group who is against him. The group that is for him discuss various possibilities as to his identity. John takes us right in to the community to hear what they have to say so that we can draw our own conclusions.

He makes a point of reminding the reader that the Spirit has not yet been given. This is important information since way back in chapter 3 and in other places Jesus has pointed out that no one will really understand who He is without the Spirit’s help and he had not been given yet. However we have the benefit of the Spirit’s help as we study this passage so that we can come to the correct conclusion. Ultimately he wants the reader to see that everything points to him being expected Messiah. The information about his birth is wrong as we know that he actually was born in Bethelehem not in Galilee as it was thought by those people.

What do we do with all this information? Surely it should bolster our faith, reminding us that faith is not just about believing but actually trusting and living by that trust and our hope for eternity is ultimately based on placing our trust on the Messiah who gave his life on the cross for us. Hopefully as we read through this Gospel our understanding of who Jesus is will grow stronger and more clearer over time thus strengthening our ability place our trust in him alone.

May he continue to bless you all with His living Presence during this coming week.