John 10- The Gate

“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.”

John 10:9

It is so easy sometimes to try to find another way to solve our problems.  Try to figure out a way to jump the gate or go around the fence.  We try things that we think will save us from our problems.  For example with me I know the ways to be a good steward of our money but it doesn’t mean I always follow what my knowledge says to do. I have been guilty of trying to find ways around it.  Like, I just charge this vacation because it will be good for us.  Or we really do need a new car, so lets get a shiny new one.  Over the years I have learned that I have been just chasing material happiness. 

My wife and I committed yesterday to truly practicing what we preach when it comes to our finances.  We have committed to following God’s word and doing everything to become debt-free.  We are also going to honor God with our tithe faithfully and consistently.   Before we would tithe here and there but not a routine basis for a lengthy amount of time.  We are also going to stop chasing wants and only concentrating on our needs.  We know now over the years that money or possessions will never save us, only God will. 

John 9

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”

John 9:3

This verse hits home a lot to me.  I know that I have been able to get through things in my life with the hope that some how God will use it for good.  For example, being married for 8 years we have had more than our fair share of marital problems.  There isn’t many mistakes we haven’t made that people could learn from.  Even when it seemed to be the worst days of my life, I held on to the hope that somehow God would use our experiences for good.  People would be able to see that a marriage can bounce back from almost anything as long as you let God in.  Once you invite God in and let him do his work he can make the broken whole again.  That is something I want to always remember.  I just read this poem below, tonight on someone’s myspace page that really goes with this as well.  I thought it was great poem to share.  To give credit where credit is due, It was posted by somebody with the username Fot on myspace.

As children bring their broken toys
With tears for us to mend,
I brought my broken dreams to God
Because He was my friend.

But then instead of leaving Him
In peace to work alone,
I hung around and tried to help
With ways that were my own.

At last I snatched them back and cried,
“How could you be so slow”
“My child,” He said, “What could I do?

You never did let go.” 

Where have I been?

Well, so much for habits, huh?  I started this blog in order to keep up the habit of reading a chapter of John a day.   That did not work out, as you can see.  I went on a business trip and that kinda of threw everything off. I did read the bible since my last entry, but not on the daily basis that I had hoped for.  Well, I am proud to announce I am back on track now.  I have noticed how much fuller my life was when I was in God’s word daily.  I am ready to get that fullness back.

So here it goes, today I dusted off the week long dust from my bible and reopened it to the book of John.  The verse that stood out to me was John 8:11;

“”No one, sir,” she said.  ”Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared, “Go now and leave your life of sin.”  

What really is leaving your life of sin?  Does that mean making new friends?  Not watching certain movies or listening to certain songs?  Is your life full of opportunities to sin or opportunities to shine?  What is cool about this last question is the addition of two letters that changes sin from shine.  HE.  I know that HE is Jesus.

 

John 7 – Judging

“Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgement.”

John 7:24

Judging, we all do it, and I am no better than anybody else.  I deal with judging a lot at work.  I deal with engagement rings and we constantly see couples coming in to make purchases.  It is amazing to me that for the most part the ones that buy the big rings, normally don’t seem that in love.  They are concerned with the look and talk a lot about what their friends will say.  In contrast, the ones that buy the small ones, tend to be loving to each other and in harmony.  

So I have learned, even though it is bad for my business, that the size of a ladies’ engagement ring has nothing to do with the size of the love that is present in the relationship.  I think that sometimes I can judge somebody by their outward appearances, like wow they seem to be the perfect family because they have a nice car, big house and their children all excel in their extra activities.   But what about the love in the family.  

I had an Aunt and Uncle who seemed perfect, they had the nice things and went on expensive vacations.  It was all on the outside though, when I would go over to stay with them you could see how they didn’t get a long and how important keeping up appearances were.  Unfortunately for them and their children, they never learned the lesson of what a family really is suppose to be and got a divorce.  Life is more important than outward appearances. In fact if most of us would spend the same amount of time that we spend on outward appearances like shopping for clothes, getting our hair done and cosmetics and exchange it for building our inward appearance through things like praying, reading and spending time with loved ones, this world would be a lot better.  

I will not concentrate on my outward appearance and instead focus on my inner self and help to build it though prayer, reading of the Bible and fellowship.  I will also make a commitment not to judge others merely on outward appearances and take the time to get to know someone first.

Food

What can I say, I love food.  I have had everything from NYC Pizza to perfectly cooked steak.  Sometimes when I am not feeling good, or need a pick me up, I immediately start think where can I eat tonight.  As if a nice dinner will some how solve my problems.  Don’t get me wrong, when you take that first bite of a great meal, you do feel happy.  Even after I am done I feel full and have a huge smile on my face.  

The crazy thing with food is that feeling is fleeting.  A few hours after you are done, you are already thinking “what’s for breakfast?”   Food on this earth is meant to sustain our body for only a short time, but the food God offers will sustain us for eternity.  That kind of food, is better than any steak I have ever eaten or will ever eat.

“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.  On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

John 6:27 

Praise

I just finished reading Chapter 5 and one verse that stuck out to me was 5:44;

“How can you believer if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from God?”

I like this verse because it speaks to me about accomplishments.  I have had accomplishments in my life where I get excited, and I receive praise for, but then I wonder what it means to God.  For example, I just finished making a DVD for work for training purposes, and have received a lot of praise for it from my coworkers and my bosses.  At first glance it seems like a great accomplishment since it is completely above and beyond my job description.  However the praise seems empty to me sometimes, because the DVD doesn’t directly further God’s kingdom.  

On the opposite end, I sometimes think that maybe making the DVD was practice for possibly making a short film for God’s purposes.  That maybe through my current job, I can get experience, and at the same time be a hard worker, for something that might further God’s kingdom later.  Or that by getting a bigger raise for making the DVD, I will have more money that could further God’s kingdom.  Very confusing, I know, but I have faith that God knows what is best and if I make an effort to follow him and search to obtain his praise than it will work out.  Accomplishments are nice but in the end you have to ask, Did I do this for myself or for God or others?  Doing things for only yourself can be a very lonely road to go down.

Thirst

I have just finished reading the fourth chapter of John.  So far I have kept up with my journaling, which is a big feat for me, because I tend to get excited at something and then stop after awhile.   I have to learn to be consistent and build good routines.

One thing that stood out to me in this chapter was verses 13-14:

“Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

This speaks to me in the way that people, including myself, constantly search for happiness.  Most of the time, we only find it temporarily.  We get happy when we get a new car, but it quickly fades after a few weeks.  We get excited about moving into a new home, but after awhile the neighbor’s house starts looking better than ours.  We are constantly searching for artificial happiness.  Finding quick “sips” of happiness that leave us thirstier than we were in the beginning.  We seek more material happiness after we get stressed about the last happiness we bought, the new house, so we buy a new car.  Then when the happiness of the new car wears out, we “sip” again, and buy a new boat.  It just keeps going and going.  Or does it.

What if there was a way to stop sipping?  What if something could quench this thirst?  Well after reading John 4:13-14, I know the answer.  

3rd Chapter of John

This chapter contains probably the most quoted line of scripture John 3:16.  Oddly enough the one that spoke to me the most was actually John 3:19.

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”

John 3:19

I know that when I have fallen deep into sin, the last thing I want to do is go to church.  It is amazing that when we need God the most we tend to hide the most, because of our guilt.  We know we are evil and we don’t want to be told.  I have learned now that when I am deep into sin, that is actually when I should be running to church.    

2nd Chapter of John

Well I read the chapter today before I went to work and have read it again after I got home.  Two ideas spoke to me during my reading.  The first was that man can sometimes think small and God thinks big.  For example when Jesus clears the temple he tells the Jews, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”  They immediately think he is talking about the temple building, thinking small, not what Jesus intended himself.  I have had many occasions where I have thought short-term and not seen the big picture.  One important principle in business that I have learned is to have a big picture mentality.  It is comforting to know that my spiritual leader, Jesus, always thinks big picture.  It also reminds me to have faith in him, because his superior vision will be able to guide me through anything.

The other thing that stood out to me is how Jesus took a stand in the temple and drove the money changers out.  Sometimes we think being Christian is just being nice and smiling all the time.  We forget that sin angers God and that it should anger us as well.  Have you ever heard somebody talk about how  sick they are and how bad they feel, but when you ask them if they have taken any medicine or  seen a doctor they say no.  It is like they are happy with saying how miserable they are and aren’t actively trying to get better.  My father always says that when you are sick you have to get mad at your sickness and do everything to get better.  I think the same goes for sin, you can’t just say, “Oh I really shouldn’t do that,” or “I shouldn’t talk, because I am guilty of that too.”  You got to get mad at your sin, and do everything in your power to turn away from it.  I also think sometimes we tend to ask for forgiveness for me, and justice for everyone else.  We can easily take a stand against someone else’s sin but don’t do anything about our own.  In the end we will have to answer for what we did, not what anybody else did or did to us.  

“So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.  To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here? How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”

John 2:15-16

1st Chapter of John

I did it!! I just finished reading the first chapter of John.  I have read it before, but now that I think about it I don’t think I have ever read the whole book of John.  I have started but stopped somewhere in the middle, please don’t ruin the ending for me.  Just kidding.

Hopefully through this new commitment, I will be able to finish the whole book in less than a month.  The verse that stood out to me in the first chapter of John was;

“He is the one that comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

John 1:27

I felt like this was a good reminder to me of entitlement.  I think sometimes I feel like I am entitled to a nice house or a nice car.  All with out working very hard for it.  In reality with something that matters like the Gift of Salvation, I am not worthy.  I was not entitled to God coming down to save me.  He didn’t go through the torture of the cross and then wink at me and say, “there you go kid, I owe you one.”  He did it because he loved me and the world and wanted what was best for us.  It had nothing to do with our worthiness.  This will be a good reminder to me that it is not what I can do for God, but what God can do for me.  In fact it is me that is not worthy, and I should be looking at him and saying, “I owe you one.”  My life.