Month: January 2025

What a beautiful name it is – what a wonderful name it is, what a powerful name it is – the name of Jesus. In quiet contemplation I consider these as I meet with the Father through him.

Yes my Name wraps up all that I am. That is why I am known by so many names as they describe different aspects of my character and my interaction with you and the rest of creation. Wrapped up in that name Jesus – which means “The one who came to save” – is my full glory and my name reflects the main purpose of my mission to you– to save – to save in an absolutely unique way – to make it possible for you to be turned back from rushing to a lost eternity. But there is so much more in that name – so keep contemplating it, keep loving it but remember you are not loving just a name you are loving me the one who carries that name and who came to save you.

So we come today to the last part of the story of Lazarus. John 11:45-57. This section also brings to an end the first section of John’s gospel where he is introducing us to Jesus and showing that he is the Messiah. There is a key vs in this section which reflects what the rest of the gospel is going to be about. Read through the passage and see if you can pick that up.

So way back in 3:16 Jesus already revealed His mission. He had come, motivated by the Father’s love, to die for the whole world to save us from perishing and instead receive life. So in 11:50 from the mouth of the high priest Caiaphas this prophecy is picked up again in vs 50: “You do not realise that it is better for you that one man die for the people”. So from here on Jesus’s death becomes the main theme of the rest of the gospel.

The miracle of the raising of Lazarus has more than one layer. It is the greatest miracle which are described as signs in the gospel because they point to Jesus’s identity. It also is a window which gives us insight to Jesus’s amazing compassion. There is however a further significance, I wonder if you can see it.

It is a subtle reminder that the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is not the end of the story. Without His resurrection the story of Jesus would have ended there in Palestine. So here is a sweet way in which John puts the two main threads together to introduce us to the last 11 chapters of his gospel story. Jesus is to die, a significant death achieving the ultimate salvation act and this is verified by the Father to have been sufficient and real by His resurrection.

Reading this gospel and especially this section has given me a renewed sense of the wonder of God’s love which He has expressed through this amazing act of His in sending Jesus on this mission. What a wonderful sense of security we can have as Paul puts it in Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how much more will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things. This story of Jesus’s absolute compassion is strategically placed here to set a background to his attitude as he goes the whole way to the cross. It was not a cold act of obedience but the greatest act of love imaginable.

So as we follow Him we are also called to take up our crosses, not in a cold determined way gritting our teeth as it were, but in a complete surrender of ourselves in an act of the warmest love, emulating our Master’s attitude of love towards us.

God bless you all then. Till next week.

Joy, real joy – the enigma of our faith – comes at the expense of a death. As we survey the One who died for us on the cross we can see the blood and love flowing mingled down, that is the means which sets us free to experience the true joy of a relationship with ourCreator, to experience his love firsthand.

“Yes your joy comes at a cost, but the cost has been born by Me, the price I have paid through my blood has bought you the freedom from slavery to sin, it has bought you eternal life. My blood which represents My death is the factor that washes you clean and enables you to experience true joy. True joy which will ultimately lead to your glorification in the presence of My glory. That is why I call on you to sacrifice your whole self for Me, to take up your cross and follow Me even to share in My suffering with the wonderful view of a glorious hope shining in front of you.”

We proceed today in John ch 11: 17 – 37, with the story of Lazarus. Why don’t you read through the story and see if you can pick up the main point of Jesus’s teaching?

While we all can see the emphasis on Jesus’s compassion, it is revealed against the background of the main theme of His teachings in vv 25 – 27. He not only promises resurrection from the dead, but He IS the Resurrection and the Life! He can promise this because NB vs 27 He is none other than the Genuine Messiah and the miracle He is about to perform is the living proof of that! The question at the end of vs 26 is the question which has repeatedly cropped up in the gospel. It is the question which changes everything from reading a story intellectually to recognizing and embracing it as real and which then becomes a life changing moment. Do you see the simple question? “Do you believe this “ ? Notice it is not just a vague “Do you believe?” It is a specific belief which changes everything. Do believe THIS ? This is the central point in the gospel, which Jesus has just spoken in those vv.

Now coming back to the grieving family. Earlier Jesus had deliberately delayed His response to the sister’s plea, despite His great love for them. The question we may ask is “did He not care how they felt?”. We saw how He uses delay in His teaching process, and we ourselves may feel at times when we are called to wait that Jesus doesn’t really care. Vv 32 – 36 show how deeply moved Jesus was at their grief. What a wonderful picture of Jesus’s compassion which reflects what He feels for each one of His children when they are in any sort of pain. What a comfort that we have a high priest who has experienced all our pain and can draw alongside us when are hurting.

A feature of this story is the great amount of detail. This is an excellent reminder of the reality of these events and when we ponder that should further strengthen our faith.

My prayer is that each of you should feel as encouraged and comforted as I did while reading it. Bless you all till next week.

It is not so much the words we say to our dear Lord, but having the right attitude as we come to Him – a clean heart and mind. Psalm 139:23 “Search me oh God and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is an offensive way in me”.

“The means to have a clean heart and a correct attitude are right there as you allow Jesus to minister to you, calling to mind the things that cloud your relationship with Me and come between us. The means of clearing this are on the tip of your tongue as I bring these to mind you can confess them and repent – changing your attitude towards those things which you love more than Me. Yes this is a long process and requires daily attention. At no stage can you say you have done enough. Yet My warm open arms are there all the time welcoming you with forgiveness and compassion in My eyes, filling you again with My mercy and My love.”

The whole of Chapter 11 of John’s gospel is devoted to one incident which shows how important it is. We will take it one bite at a time to be sure we engage the riches of the message it contains. May I invite you to put aside all previous inputs you have had on it and try and come afresh to it. Today we will read vv 1-16.

To set the scene, John is at pains to paint a beautiful picture in the opening 3 vv, of the deep and loving relationship Jesus had with this family. We need to keep that in the back of our minds throughout the whole story.

Lazarus, the brother is sick is the message to Jesus. Looking at the outcome of the sickness it was clearly very serious, in fact mortal. Strangely, Jesus’s reply seems to indicate that He has an ulterior agenda as He doesn’t express any compassion. Vv 5, 6 seem to contradict each other. Firstly a further affirmation of Jesus love, yet instead of rushing to the family’s aid He deliberately stays two more days where He is.

Can you imagine the emotions of Mary and Martha as they wait for Jesus to show up, while they are watching Lazarus die, powerless to help him? Have you ever been in a dire situation and despite calling for help no one comes? Have you ever longed for Jesus to show up to help you when you are desperate and you don’t feel any response?

The whole of Jesus’s motive and an explanation of His delay is summarised in v 15. “I am glad, for your sake I was not there, so that you may believe.” The bigger picture, salvation and eternal life through faith in Jesus, outweighed the anxious feverish moments of fear and anguish, as bad as they may have felt. Not only was this a teaching moment for that family, but for billions of people who would read the story over the ages.

But for us, no one is going to read our story? Well we see here that Jesus’s agenda is always focused on the bigger picture, while doubtless His compassion is with us as we struggle with our immediate feelings and fears. He loves us sufficiently to allow us to feel that, waiting so that our faith is constantly being built. We are, all of us including the disciples very slow to learn. Despite seeing and experiencing all Jesus miracles and teaching they still fled at the crucifixion.

So the big lesson here is that Jesus’s timing is totally different to our expectations as used to having everything immediately as we are. Sometimes of course, He does respond immediately, but when He does not it is so important to remember that it is not because He does not love us. Just remember the opening vv to remind ourselves of how much He loved this family. And remember how serious the situation was.

I suppose it is one of the most difficult things for us to accept and get used to. The difference in Jesus’s timing and our hopes and expectations. We are not alone. Just take the many psalms where David called out, “ How long, oh Lord how long?” The important thing is to remember that the delay doesn’t mean Jesus doesn’t love us or that He is not going to respond. It is because of this very love that He takes us on the long route for His glory and our good. May you experience His love and nearness often this coming week.

Your desire oh Lord, according to your word, is that we should delight ourselves in You. I want to do that Lord teach me how please.

“Draw close to Me and close your eyes, allow your imagination to go as you recollect all the things you have learned about Me over the years. All the experiences you have had where you have known that you have met Me and experienced My presence. As you do that remember that I am a good God and that I am for you. I demonstrated this by giving my Son to die for the world, but at the same time to die for you personally. As you recollect all these things allow yourself to give your heart fully to Me and experience My Presence and you will find the utmost delight in Me.”

We come today to the last part of John ch 10:22-42. So far in ch 10 Jesus has revealed that He is the Gate for His sheep to enter through. He is also the Shepherd, the good Shepherd who cares for His sheep and knows each one by name. He is the true shepherd demonstrating that by being prepared to die for them. The response of the Jews was divided vs 19, many saying He was demon possessed. Yet some were skeptical and wanted to believe because of the miracle of the healing of the blind man.

The story now moves to a feast in Jerusalem and the temple. The question in the air still remains, “Who is this Man?” Jesus’ reply focuses again on the miracles He has done. Remember John has actually called them “Signs “, which define their purpose. Jesus once again links His ability to do them to His close relationship with the Father, to underline His identity as the true Messiah.

This only seems to aggravate the situation as the Jews recognize that He is claiming divinity and equality with God His Father and they now start accusing Him of blasphemy. The penny won’t drop with them however, because they have prejudged Him and cannot accept this claim. This claim is really at the center of the gospel and ultimately it is because of that that He was crucified.

It is, in fact only His sheep who recognize His voice. Vs 27 The Jews were actually blocked from recognizing Jesus, form of judgement. Vs25, 26. Jesus once again emphasises the value of being one of His sheep; He gives them eternal life and they are completely secure in His love as nothing can snatch them out of His grasp. These are really important truths and we should never lose our awe at them.

The great irony of this passage lies in the contrast between the opening vv and the end. The passage opens at the temple which was physically the place for the Jews to meet with Yah. Yet instead of the people enjoying the fact that God is visiting them personally, they reject Him. At the end of the chapter Jesus is in the wilderness as far as He could get from Jerusalem, preaching. And guess what. There He is accepted and many believed in Him v 42.

This is a great reminder that we should not expect to meet with Jesus at any specific place. He is equally present everywhere. I wonder how often we encounter Him without recognizing Him. Simply because we are not expecting to meet Him at that moment. I am more and more convinced that Jesus is far more present in our lives than we expect or anticipate.

This is also a reminder that we should not prejudge persons or situations. Jesus is a completely free agent and present in a multitude of places and situations. We should never try and put Him in a box and think we have Him all figured out.

To end with we can never be reminded too often of Jesus’s deity and our security in our relationship with Him. God bless and see you all next week.

Ian as you are sitting in the quiet at the beginning of a new day and a new year, let us launch into it on a path of continued growth, a path of discovery and delight, a path where joy shines through even when there are dark clouds on the horizon. My desire for you is that more and more of the real Ian I created will shine through as you discover more of yourself – but not in isolation – in relation to me. Your real self the true Ian can only be shown as it is revealed in your personal interaction with me. It is My delight to lead you, to teach you to shake off your fears and doubts and trust me fully. So welcome on this path in 2025 which we shall tackle together.

A new year! Considering the implications and challenge to look ahead at what to expect in this coming year and what I should write today, my eye fell on a passage in a devotion from the You bible app. “Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing”. Isaiah 43:18,19.

Wow! How appropriate. My pulse quickened, then alarm bells started ringing. This is a promise way back in the Old Testament and should not, without due diligence be taken to apply to us directly. So, briefly how should we read it correctly?

Firstly, the context. This comes from the section in Isaiah called “the Servant songs”. God has been calling out His people for their continued disobedience, warning them of all sorts of judgement. In the midst of this He brings a ray of hope. Central to that hope is the Suffering Servant of ch 53, who will bring forgiveness of all their rebellion and sins. This is a promise to the nation of Israel, not an individual.

It is a promise of a New Covenant 42:6, and a promise of a pouring out of God’s Spirit 44:3b. which will be part of that. A forgiveness of sin and the power to live the life of one, born again into a new kingdom, a worldwide kingdom not limited to one special nation. This is then a revelation to Israel of God’s ultimate plan which would only be set in motion hundreds of years later.

So how should we read it correctly from our perspective of being part of this New Covenant? Firstly we should be enormously grateful to be part of this event which we just celebrated the launching of at Christmas. Jesus remains central to our hope of a new life which we can enjoy in Him. This should provoke a huge sense of wonder and thanks that we are not still trapped in sin as those people of the Old Covenant were.

What will 2025 hold for us? Only our Lord knows, but we go into it with the assurance of His love, protection and guidance because of this New Covenant and our participation in it and while there is no specific promise of something new for each one of us, there is the promise of a continual renewal on a daily basis as we walk with Him.

This is the promise of a faithful God who will always honour His promises and can be trusted completely. My wish for each one of you at the brink of a new year is that the reality of Jesus and His work for you on the cross may become brighter each day whether in times of pure joy or dark clouds. That will be the very best thing for each one of us.

See you all again next week back in John.