Denial or Devotion

John 18:17, 25-27

In The Gospel according to John Chapter 18 we see Judas betray Jesus, a truly evil act. We also see Jesus taken captive and placed before Pilate. These are all very important occurrences, which play a very important role in our salvation. In John 18 we have a well meaning disciple named Peter who is faced with a period of testing which all of us who are true Christians have been through, are currently going through, or will definitely go through.

To give us a better perspective pertaining to what’s going on let’s take a look at something which happened prior to our passages for today. Jesus had just explained to His disciples that they would all scatter and abandon Him because of His being captured by the authorities. Check out how Peter responds:

• Matthew 26:33-35~But Peter said to Him,” Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”

This was a well meant statement spoken with the emotion and excitement of the moment; most likely fueled by the presence of others watching, and depending upon his own human determination.

Now let’s see what happened:

• John 18:17, 25-27~Then the slave-girl who kept the door said to Peter,”You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him,”You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, I am not.” One of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said,”Did I not see you in the garden with Him?” Peter then denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.

As we can see Peter initially had the right intention: He at first had it in his heart to be devoted to Christ, and not to deny Him. However when faced with the pressures of the circumstances, he denied Jesus, by failing to admit that he knew The Lord, he just wanted to blend in, and stay out of trouble.

Before we pass judgment on Peter we should all ask ourselves two questions:

1. Have we ever found ourselves in a situation where we could have shown others that we know Jesus by actions, words, or attitudes, and we failed to do so because of the pressure of the moment? If the answer is yes, then just like Peter we to have denied The Lord, instead of being devoted.
2. What can be done to insure that we stay devoted and not deny the Lord?

If we are honest most of us can to some degree identify with Peter’s situation. Therefore the answer to the first question is yes. And if we look at Peter’s example in life we find the answer to the second question: Peter came to a point in his life were he humbly realized his own human weaknesses, and became dependant upon the power of God in his life to stay devoted. Therefore we see a big difference in Peter’s ability to stay devoted in the rest of his ministry.

• Philippians 2:13 says, “For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

As we can see, as we walk closely with The Lord, His power working within us will give us the power, and desire to stay devoted, and not deny our Lord and Savior. Just remember the four basic steps to spiritual growth:

• Pray
• Study
• Fellowship
• Share the Gospel

By Morris Brison

Resource for Parents

I came across this book for parents the other day and thought it would be a good resource for all you parents out there.

For more information check out youth thoughts.

Pray without Ceasing

John 17

Chapter 17 is a beautiful work of art from the lips of our Lord Jesus Christ. In this eloquent time between Father and Son, Jesus shows us exactly what a true prayer warrior is. A believer that, even though what he is going through is unbelievably tough he can still remember to lift up his ministry and his fellow believers. In this chapter Jesus takes time to pray for three seprate petitions, all of which are selfless. The first petition that Jesus brings before the Father is His situation. You may be asking yourself, “how is that selfless?” because Jesus asks for strength so that He can successfully bring glory to the Father and bring salvation to all of us. He then prays for His disciples, and after that for all believers. What can we learn from Jesus’ prayer???

Relationships are all based on communication, you can hear this on any TV show or read this in any book or magazine. Prayer is our form of communication to God, we may not be able to see Him but we sure can talk to Him. The greatest part of this gift, prayer, is that God WANTS to hear from us. Have you ever felt brushed off by friends or family, like no one wants to listen to what you have to say… God always WANTS to hear from you because He loves you. In His word He tells us to “Pray without ceasing” (1Thessaloinians 5:17). Our relationship with God will not grow unless we are in constant communication with Him.

This weekend try to set aside some time every day to just sit, pray, and listen for the Lord to speak to your heart. Write out a prayer list of things going on in your life and your family circle, but also remember the ministry that you may be involved in, our pastors, our government, and Christians across the globe. These are all things that we need to keep in our prayers no matter how old we are, these things never get less important. In closing I want you guys to remember one thing, if Jesus being the Son of God, who had a direct connection to God, felt the need to be in constant communication with His Father, shouldn’t we be doing the same thing???

By Luke Sanders

John 16

Temporary Sorrows, Eternal Joy

I don’t know about you but a lot of times there are things in my life that come up that can be pretty depressing. I sometimes get bummed out and wonder if that situation will get any better. I’ll be honest, it’s difficult sometimes to think that a situation will actually get better.

In John 16, Jesus is speaking to His disciples before He goes to the Garden of Gethsemane, and before He is going to be arrested . He speaks on a subject to them where they had become weary. They didn’t know the outcome and they were a little afraid. Jesus said to them in John 16:16, “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” I can imagine the disciples thinking, “Huh?!”

What point is Jesus trying to make here? When He made this statement He was speaking about the hour of His crucifixion coming when He will be delivered into the hands of men to be killed and will raise from the dead 3 days later, then ascend into Heaven. That is when He says the phrase, “A little while, and you will see me no longer…”  They won’t be able to see Him physically anymore because He is going to sit at the right hand of God in Heaven.

Then when Jesus makes the statement, “and again a little while, and you will see me,” and again Jesus is saying after not seeing me, then you will see me. This is a little confusing isn’t it? In simplified terms Jesus is saying, “Look, I’m going to go to Heaven after my resurrection so you won’t see me after that, but when you die, as believers of Jesus (Myself), you will then see me again for eternity.” Make sense?

They were bummed when they heard of this news. He was no longer going to be with them, but then would be eventually. This news brought them great joy, knowing that they wouldn’t be with Him for a short time, but would soon enough, be with Him in eternity.

Jesus compares this sorrow turning into joy by using the idea of pregnancy. He says in verse 21-22, “When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” What great assurance that is! You may have sorrow now, but joy is surely coming after that.

Jesus continues to speak about Him overcoming the world and living a perfect life on this earth, showing His equality with God and also showing that He is able to sympathize with us on our behalf. Do you know that God knows all things you go through, good and bad? He is with you every step of the way!!

Are you bummed, are you wondering if your parents will stay together, if they will stop fighting? Are you wondering if you will lose the house and have to move somewhere else? Are you worried about the family member who is close to death? Look no further than to John 16:33, Jesus says, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

John 15

John 15:5 “Abide in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  I am the vine; you are th branches.  Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is tthat bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

Its funny, as I read this verse, and much more of John chapter 15, two things happen; First, God totally puts me in my place making me realize that I can do absolutely nothing that is worth anything without His power working through me.  Second, I get totally encouraged and blown away at the fact that the Holy and Perfect God who made everything in existence, including me and you, and who deserves perfection, loves us, and wants a relationship with us even in our imperfection.
What exactly is it to bear fruit??  The bible tells us in Galatians 5 that the fruit of the Spirit, (the very Spirit of Truth referenced  in verse 26 of this chapter) is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and self-control.  You may not exactly be to interested in these “fruit’s of the spirit” but my friend I urge you to get interested in them! Why you ask? Well in verse 2 of this chapter it says, “Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He Prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” And in verse 6, “If anyone does not abide in me [which would obviously mean that person does not bear fruit] he is thrown away like a branch and withers’ and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” Some people try and convince themselves that even though their life does not bear much fruit they are still a Christian.  But What does Matthew chapter 7 have to say about that? Matthew 7:16-20 says, “ You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.  A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down ad thrown into the fire.  Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”
My friend it is crucial for us to have fruit in our lives.  In saying this I am not telling you that by your good works or deeds you get to heaven, if  I did say that I would be severely wrong because we know that it is by faith alone that Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior came down to this earth and took on human flesh, lived a perfect life and died on the cross, paying the debt of our sins.  But what we need to understand is that this Faith in Jesus Christ needs to be followed by repentance from our sins..by this faith in Jesus Christ we no longer live for this world, but we live to ABIDE in Christ and He in us.  We must live our lives for Jesus and Glorify the Father as it says in verse 8.  I promise you that in doing this, Jesus is going to give you such a Joy in your heart and more of a passion for the things that He loves.

- Cody Swanson

John 13

A New Commandment

John thirteen is perhaps one of the most jaw-dropping chapters in the Bible. Jesus, God of the entire universe, kneels down to wash the disciples’ feet. In these days, they didn’t wear socks. They didn’t even wear shoes. They wore sandals, and their feet would have been disgusting, so this would be the job of a servant.

He did this for a reason, though.

“For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you” (John 13:15).

In the preceding chapter, Jesus told the disciples that a servant was anyone who followed their master anywhere and did everything he did. Sure, that would have been easy when he was doing miracles, but washing feet is completely odd. It doesn’t seem to be appealing at all. But that was the point.

There’s always something that we would never see ourselves do. However, when we imagine some things as “forbidden” in our lives, those are the things that God targets and changes. Maybe there’s someone to whom you just can’t imagine showing love. Jesus loved them enough to die for them. Perhaps you can’t see yourself giving up your favorite possession. But God gave up his only Son.

Everything God asks us to do he has already done himself—and better. For example, compare you patience with God’s patience. For us, it may be one irritating person. For God, it’s an entire world that breaks his commandments.

Someone might say, “But he’s God. He can do anything.” That doesn’t change the fact that he has commanded us as Christians (followers of Christ, right?) to imitate him.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 3:34).

Showing God’s love and obeying him isn’t merely a “nice thing to do.” It’s a command from a Master to a servant.