[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (KD) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]
[23:49,
4/26/2021] S.R:
JOHN
1:5
"And
the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it."
Where
there is Jesus, there is light. Satan is a defeated enemy. We, even here on
earth, are conquerors. We can overcome the force of darkness, especially in our
personal lives, because we have the Spirit of God.
We
can renounce our secret deeds of darkness. We can overcome sin, temptation, and
trials.
Sure,
it hardly is instantaneously, but we are to persevere. As Steven Lawson says,
"The perseverance of a saint is the perseverance of the Saviour in a
saint." Let's call out to God for help in our spiritual battle every day.
We may fall, but will not be utterly cast down!
Even
fear in this pandemic is a spiritual battle. We are to stay calm and rest in
God! Lord, calm our souls!
JOHN
2:15
"And
He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the
sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and
overturned their tables"
I
saw a picture of Jesus with a scourge of thorns driving away people in a Sunday
School's children book. And I thought Jesus whipped those moneychangers. At the
same time, I was somehow disturbed in my thinking why would Jesus resort to
violence?
But,
when I grow older and studied this incident, I realize that there's no
indication that Jesus ever whipped the moneychangers.
In
fact, he needed that scourge to drive away the animals! Remember the cows of
Delhi. They stood still in the middle of the road no matter how loud you honk
them. Don't you wish you have a lathi to hit them like anything? 😂
Three
lessons:
1.
Sometimes, Sunday school materials are inaccurate!
2.
Animals need a stick. And if we act like an animal, we may need a stick too!
3.
Jesus is not a violent man! He is angry but not violent! He is always in
control of himself. We resort to violence when we are out of control!
𝕁𝕠𝕙𝕟 𝟛
v3.
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the
kingdom of God.”
v5.
"Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water
and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. "
v7.
"Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’"
𝚆𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝙹𝚎𝚜𝚞𝚜 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐, "𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗" 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚐𝚎. 𝙰 𝙲𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚝. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚗𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗, 𝚗𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎, 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚟𝚊𝚒𝚗.
𝙰 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝙶𝚎𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖, "𝚂𝚒𝚛, 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗? " 𝙶𝚎𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚕𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚍, "𝙱𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎, 𝚖𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗! "
𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚌𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 🅑🅞🅡🅝-🅐🅖🅐🅘🅝
𝓛𝓸𝓻𝓭, 𝓶𝓪𝔂 𝓘 𝓫𝓮 𝓫𝓸𝓵𝓭 𝓮𝓷𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓽𝓸 𝓬𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓷𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓮 𝓫𝓸𝓻𝓷 𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓲𝓷! 𝓐𝓶𝓮𝓷!
𝕁𝕆ℍℕ 𝟜:𝟜𝟙-𝟜𝟚
"And
many more believed ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ of ʜɪs ᴡᴏʀᴅ; and they were saying to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what
you said that we believe, for we have ʜᴇᴀʀᴅ ғᴏʀ ᴏᴜʀsᴇʟᴠᴇs and know that this One is truly the Savior of the
world.’"
𝙰𝚜 𝚊 𝙲𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚗, 𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝. 𝙰𝚜 𝚊 𝙱𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚕𝚢. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛s 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚑 𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎.
𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚢 𝙶𝚘𝚍'𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜!
𝓛𝓸𝓻𝓭, 𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓴 𝓨𝓸𝓾, 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓼𝓶𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓰𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓹 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓸𝓹𝓹𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓾𝓷𝓲𝓽𝔂 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓭 𝓫𝔂 𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓿𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓪𝓯𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓶 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓖𝓸𝓭! 𝓑𝓵𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓮𝓭 𝓫𝓮 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓷𝓪𝓶𝓮! 𝓐𝓶𝓮𝓷!
𝕁𝕆ℍℕ 𝟝:𝟛𝟝
"He
was the lamp that was burning and shining and you were willing to rejoice for a
while in his light."
ᴊᴏʜɴ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ʜɪɢʜʟʏ ᴏғ ʜɪᴍsᴇʟғ. ʜᴇ ʜᴇsɪᴛᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴇᴠᴇɴ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴄᴀʟʟᴇᴅ ᴀ ᴘʀᴏᴘʜᴇᴛ ᴏғ ɢᴏᴅ. (He said of himself, just "a voice").
ʜᴇ ᴀʟᴡᴀʏs ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ᴀ sᴇʟғ-ᴅᴇᴘʀᴇᴄᴀᴛᴏʀʏ sᴛᴀᴛᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴀsᴋᴇᴅ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ʜɪᴍsᴇʟғ.
ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀsᴛɪɴɢʟʏ, ᴊᴇsᴜs ʜᴀᴅ ᴀ ᴠᴇʀʏ ʜɪɢʜ ᴠɪᴇᴡ ᴏғ ᴊᴏʜɴ: ᴛʜᴇ ɢʀᴇᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴘʀᴏᴘʜᴇᴛ, ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴜʀɴɪɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ sʜɪɴɪɴɢ ʟᴀᴍᴘ!
𝙰𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝:
𝙾𝚑! 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍, 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚢, 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢, 𝚢𝚎𝚜, 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢!
𝚈𝚎𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚙 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏𝚏, 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚗, 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝐚 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚙
𝚈𝚎𝚜, 𝚊 𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚙 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚖, 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝐚 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚙.
𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐡 𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧! 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐧!
JOHN
6:39
"Now
this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose
nothing, but raise it up on the last day."
What
more can I expect from my Lord than to never let me go from His hands?
The
Father wills, The Son wills, and the Spirit wills to preserve me till the day
of resurrection. If not for the will of my Triune God, I would have lost my
salvation again and again from the very day of my conversion.
Oh!
My tongue is full of hymns and contemporary songs as I think about this truth
that "He has never let me go!"
JOHN
7:5
"For
not even His brothers were believing in Him."
But
I believe! And you believe. Because Believing (Faith) is a gift from God. I do
not earn it, nor do I believe because I am smart. Nor do I have all the
evidence to affirm. I believe because God has given me saving faith.
Jesus'
brothers, the crowd of Jerusalem had more evidence than I can ever discover.
They had seen His wonderful life, heard His powerful sermon, and felt His
compassion; still, they didn't believe in Him and crucify Him!
If
it is not by the grace of God, how a man like me of the 21st
century, in this skeptical post-modern world, would ever believe Jesus is Lord!?
No way!
Thank
You, Lord, for granting me faith and eternal life!