Translate

John 7. Days 16-17



Memory Verse:
 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said,
out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
(John 7:38)

One of the hardest things to do is to listen and obey the Lord, when it seems He is whispering to us (if that!) rather than listening and obeying the world, when it seems it is shouting to us. Jesus had the same struggle and often withdrew to pray. Chapter seven brings us to the final year of our Lord’s life, and Jesus faces some serious challenges. There are lessons to be learned for new and old believers, including how to know God’s Word (doctrine), God’s Will (discernment) and God’s Ways (discipleship).
If you watch the movie The Gospel of John you will see Jesus speaking boldly. Perhaps this chapter will give you courage to speak boldly, despite opposition. Last chapter we saw about God’s spiritual food, and in this chapter we see about the living water, quenching our spiritual thirst and also reviving those whom we influence through Christ. This theme of living water is not a new theme, but a fulfillment of a very old theme, reaching as far back as Moses in the Old Testament.
You are a third of the way through this study. Keep going and learn more about your faith.


Day 16: Morning
 Don’t Listen To The World
(Read John 7:1–13)

There are a lot of distractions in the world: social media, ear buds, satellite radio. From sun up to sun down, constant sounds from the world can distract us from hearing from God. Though different, distractions existed in Jesus’s day, tempting even Christ from His mission.
John 7 is in the fall of the year, the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. Jesus had withdrawn to Galilee because the Jews sought to kill Him in Jerusalem. Christians must have wisdom in knowing God’s will and timing.
Does it surprise you that the Lord’s brothers did not believe in Him (v. 5)? Unbelievers, like Jesus’s brothers, try to put Christians in a mold that doesn’t fit. There are no cookie-cutter Christians. That is why our faith is a personal relationship with Christ. Don’t be surprised if unbelievers try to tell you what a Christian is or isn’t. Instead, listen to God!
Other things will also distract us. Frequently John wrote about Jesus’s time (verses 6, 8) or His hour (2:4; 7:30; 8:20; 12:23; 13:1; and 16:21), usually in regards to His death. It is possible to do the right thing at the wrong time and only discernment and the prompting of the Holy Spirit will help in waiting on God’s timing. See Isaiah 40:31; Ps. 25:3; 40:1.
In verse 8, most readings include the word “I am not going to the festival yet.” Jesus intended to go to the Feast, but just not yet. His brothers were pressuring Him to do something He was not ready to do.
The world today tries to squeeze us into its mold by getting something that is not in God’s timing “yet.” There are get rich quick schemes (lotteries), instant success books, credit cards, prayerlessness, sex before marriage, and countless other pressures to distract from God’s will.
I listen to audio books. I love playing D.J., picking out music for the day. And everyone knows I am a news junkie. But there are times I have to be still before God and tune out the world and listen to God.

Pray this prayer to God: “Heavenly Father, help me to wait for You. No matter what the world says, help me to always call on You first before making any decision. Help me to listen for Your answers, especially when Your answers are different from the world’s desires…or mine. Amen.”


Day 16: Evening
Do Listen To God
(Read John 7:11–24)

People have never had a “middle-of-the-road” opinion about Jesus. In the 1970s, there was a song called “Jesus is Just Alright With Me.” Despite its popularity, the song is not very accurate. Jesus stands as a mountain peak. You can be on one side and agree with Him, or on the other side and disagree. Or ignore Him completely. But He can never be just alright.
Verse 16 uses a word, “doctrine” which we don’t use often. It means teaching, usually according to a system of beliefs. In Christianity, we are to follow the doctrine of Christ. But how can we know true teaching?
To know truth, first notice Jesus’s standard. He said that His doctrine was not His own, but from God (verse 16).
Unless you are perfect (and none are), true doctrine does not begin and end with you. In humility, you must admit that you are not the standard of truth, only God is. He reveals His perfect will in His Word, the Bible.
Jiminy Cricket’s advice was “Let your conscience be your guide.”  But John 7:17, tells us our guide should be truly seeking God’s will. That is how we can tell what true doctrine is. What are some pitfalls in allowing an imperfect conscience or public opinion to guide you in right and wrong?
If you want to find true teaching, you must not only seek God, but also have the right motivation. It is possible for you to read God’s Word and distort it to fit your own purposes. That is the making of a cult.
The religious leaders selectively misapplied God’s Word to Jesus. When you make a judgment on whether a teaching is true or false, it must line up with the doctrine as taught by the entire Word of God. 2 Tim. 3:16 says, “All Scripture...is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
The three-prong test for true and correct teaching is: “Does this teaching lead me to do God’s will ?” “Does this teaching motivate me to glorify God?” and “Does this teaching line up with the entire Word of God.”

Pray this prayer to God: “Heavenly Father, guide me as I seek the truth. You alone are my standard. Help me to do Your will for Your glory as I read Your word and apply it to my life. In Jesus’s Name. Amen.”


Day 17: Morning
Speak Boldly Despite Opposition
(Read John 7:25–36)

When I was an editor of a south Texas newspaper, I had a coworker who knew I was a Christian but she was not. When the subject of Christianity arose, she told me, “Oh, I know Jesus.” One time I told her, “You know about Jesus but you don’t know Him personally.”
People were divided on whether Jesus was good or a deceiver. In verses 25–27, they were not seriously asking whether the rulers were believers, but were taunting the inability of the rulers to respond to Jesus.
The religious leaders knew of Jesus’s earthly background, but were ignorant of the spiritual power behind Him (see John 9:29). They also were ignorant of where Jesus was going (verses 33–36). They knew Jesus was of Nazareth, a place from where no prophet arose. They also knew that he was from humble means, that He had never formally studied (verse 15). Since Jesus was not born with an earthly father (Luke 1:35), some implied Jesus was born of fornication (John 8:41) and called Him a Samaritan (a slang for a mixed-race person) in John 8:48. Despite His background, Jesus spoke boldly to the powerfully respected and esteemed rulers.
We too know where we are from and where we are going and that should give us the boldness to testify. Opposition to the truth and lack of true knowledge should lead us to be bold in our proclamation, because they truly need of someone to stand up for what is true.
The guards were asked have you ever known of ... one Pharisee to believe in Him?” Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were there (John 7:50–52, John 19:38–39) but were afraid to speak boldly. Imagine what would have happened if two Pharisees had been bold!

Acts 4:13–31 shows the source of the disciples’ boldness. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John...they realized that they had been with Jesus.” We should not look to ourselves for the boldness to witness for God, but rather we should look to God’s power alone.

Pray this prayer to God: “My Father in Heaven, as I spend time with You, give me boldness to speak strongly about You, not just at church, but where there is opposition and unbelief. In Jesus’s Name I pray. Amen.”



Day 17: Evening
Faith In Jesus Will Quench Your Thirst
(Read John 7:37–53)

The “Great Feast” likely was the Feast of the Tabernacles. The feast reminded the Israelites of when they had lived in tents or “tabernacles,” wandering in the desert before entering the Promised Land. This feast reminds Christians that we are living in earthly tabernacles, inhabited by the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19).
The Jews had an elaborate water ceremony on the final day of the Feast, remembering their forefathers thirsted and water flowed from a rock. Jesus used this time to proclaim He was the fulfillment of that ceremony.
Read 1 Cor. 10:4: “all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.”
John 7 parallels Exodus 17:1–7. The people were thirsty in a dry place and asked Moses for water. They argued with him, asking “Is the Lord among us or not?” and were almost at the point of killing him. In Jesus’s day, the Jews argued whether Jesus was the Messiah or not (verses 40–44), and like with Moses, some even sought to kill Him (verse 25).
Moses struck a rock with his rod and water flowed from it. Isaiah 53:4 says that Jesus was “stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.” The living water that flows out of Christ is the Holy Spirit (John 7:39), which God pours out on His people who trust in Christ.
The Old Testament speaks of living waters (Jer. 2:13; Ps. 36:8–9; Ps. 42). Isa. 44:3 says “For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants and My blessing on your offspring.”
The people were concerned about where Jesus was from than who He was and what He had to say. God’s concern with you is not where you have been, but where you are. He looks at what is within you, not what is behind you. From your “inner being” He will flow rivers of living waters.

Pray this prayer to God: “Our Father in Heaven. Give me spiritual drink today. Allow me to be a source of life for others as I drink from You. No matter what others say I will put my faith in You. In Your Holy Name I pray. Amen.”






No comments:

Post a Comment