DIG for Saturday the 27th of August…..what wonderful faith…..John 4 v 50

At the end of John chapter 4 we read about one of the greatest men of faith in the Bible; the nobleman whose son was sick and near death.

He asked Jesus to come to his son, but Jesus said he was healed and the man believed Him.

The word of Jesus was enough for Him, he trusted what Jesus had said and committed his actions to that statement.

A closer reading of this passage shows how much faith in Jesus this man had.

The Word says he met his servants on the way home who told him his son was better and that the illness left at the 7^th hour the day before; that is about 14:00 if sunrise was at 7:00.

Do you realise what this means?

It means that Jesus told the man his son was well at 14:00 yet the man did not go home until the next day!

There was plenty of time to even start the journey to get home yet the man was so assured in the word of Jesus that he did not have to rush home.

I would probably have started running home to see if my son was ok if I were in that situation, and even travel through the night.

What faith and what trust; Jesus said it was OK and he believed that without having to rush off and check.

This man was assured that whatever Jesus said would come to pass.

Do we have similar faith?

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for Jesus and thank you for His work and His words”

John 4 v 50…..Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way

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DIG for Friday the 26th of August…oh yes, He has indeed spoken to every single one of us…..John 4 v 4

Yesterday we saw that Jesus went out of His way out meet with the Samaritan woman at the well.

I’ve often written in these DIGs that the Lord is no respecter of persons (Acts 10 v 34); that means that what He did for one He will do for another, as He has no favourites.

You may say back, “well I’m sorry Vic but He has not come to me, He has not said anything to me”.

The truth is that He has come to you; through creation, through other believers, through His Word and through His Spirit Jesus has come and spoken to every single one of us, including you.

If you think not it is because you have not been listening and you have not heard; it is not because He has not come.

Jesus wants a special relationship with you, but you have to want that too.

He never imposes Himself on anyone; He leaves the choice up to us.

We can listen and hear or we can ignore.

When Jesus spoke to a group of people in the Gospels some listened, heard and believed upon Him, yet some acted as if they had heard nothing.

The same is true today.

People can behave as if they have never heard from Jesus while others embrace what they hear.

I hope and pray you are one that has heard, listened and embraced Him.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that you want a relationship with every one of us and have enabled this through the finished work of Jesus”.

John 4 v 4…..And he must needs go through Samaria

DIG for Thursday the 25th of August…..never exclude yourself from the love of Jesus…..John 4 v 27

The disciples were amazed, they marvelled, when they found Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4 v 27).

Jesus constantly did things that surprised and amazed the disciples!

In the culture of the day Jesus should have never talked o the woman, He should not even have been in the area.

Yet the Word says he “must needs go through Samaria” (John 4 v 4).

He didn’t go for a shortcut to save time, He didn’t go because it was an easier journey, He went to meet and talk to this lady.

This is a picture of how everyone is included in the love of Jesus.

Everyone is included in Father God’s plan of salvation, not a single person is excluded (2 Peter 3 v 9).

You must never think ill enough of yourself to be excluded for anything the Lord has planned for you.

The woman He met at the well was the lowest of the low, a woman living in sin, a woman excluded from society.

She was not excluded from the love of Jesus though!

And neither are you!

No matter what you have done, no matter how low you have gone, no matter how much society has condemned you, Jesus loves you and wants a relationship with you.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that Jesus loves everyone and wants a relationship with everyone and that includes me”.

John 4 v 27…..And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? Or, Why talkest thou with her?

DIG for Wednesday the 24th of August…..so what if he came to Jesus in the night…..John 3 v 2

People come to Jesus in many different ways.

For some it is a long process, for others it is quick event.

For some it is a public thing, for others it is something done in private.

Nicodemus was one who came to see Jesus in private, in the night actually.

Some people have said that he was ashamed or embarrassed to come to Jesus.

You could argue he was being sensible and prudent, not wanting to cause distress or offence.

The important thing for me is that he came to Jesus; I’m not particularly concerned how and when he came.

This is true today I think.

It does not concern me how a person comes to Jesus, be it in a blaze of publicity or the privacy of their home does not matter, as long as a person comes to Jesus that is what counts.

For me it was irrelevant that Nicodemus came to Jesus in the night and that no one saw him; that simply does not matter.

The point is Nicodemus met Jesus and that was the vital thing for him.

For all people, including Nicodemus, let’s not worry about the how or the why, let’s just celebrate that a person has come to Jesus.

Understanding whom Jesus is and coming to Him as Lord and Saviour is the only important thing at the end of the day.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that Jesus wants all men to come to Him, any time and any where”.

John 3 v 2…..The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him

DIG for Tuesday the 23rd of August…..we need to think on spiritual terms not physical terms…..John 3 v 4

A lot of people alive today think that this physical world is all that there is to existence; they do not realise that there is a spiritual dimension to life and the universe.

Nicodemus was like these people in that he just did not see the spiritual side of what Jesus was talking about.

When Jesus spoke about being born again he asked if he had to return to his mother’s womb (John 3 v 3 and 4).

This was a ridiculous thing to say, absolutely idiotic to be honest.

However if you are not aware of the spiritual dimension this is how you think!

Jesus was obviously talking in a spiritual sense when He spoke about being born again, and much of what Jesus spoke about was spiritual.

If you think only in the natural and physical much of what Jesus talks about will be nonsense to you.

People have a spiritual part therefore they must think in spiritual terms as well.

Our spiritual part is our true identity and it is this part of us that God relates to.

So we have to be aware of this spiritual identity and understand it in order to function properly.

The spiritual should be as import as the physical for us, in fact it should be more important.

When we feel sick in the physical we need to know that in the spiritual we are healed.

When in the physical we are poor we need to know that in the spiritual we are rich.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that in my born again spirit I am holy and righteous, perfect and pure”.

John 3 v 4…..Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

DIG for Monday the 22nd of August…..the highest and the lowest, all the same to Jesus…..John 3 v 1 and John 4 v 9

In our journey through the Gospel of John Jesus now meets a couple of individuals, showing us that Jesus is available to all people.

Jesus makes no distinction among people; if they are alive and breathing they can come to Jesus.

The two meetings we see now in the book of John give us a picture of the inclusivity of Jesus; He wants to meet with anyone and everyone.

In Nicodemus and the Samaritan women we see the two extremes of the society of the day and see that Jesus was interested in both.

Nicodemus was a man, a Jew and from the highest in society.

The lady was (obviously) a woman, a Samaritan and from the lowest in society.

Jesus loves and is interested in what we would say are the highest and lowest in society, and everyone in between.

No one is excluded from the love of Jesus, not by Jesus anyway!

We read in the Word that the Lord wants everyone to come to salvation (2 Peter 3 v 9).

Jesus made the way for anyone and everyone to come to salvation if they choose.

The Lord is no respecter of persons (Acts 10 v 34), everyone is included if they want to be.

Whoever you are, Jesus loves you and wants a relationship with you.

If you are breathing Jesus wants a relationship with you.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that there is no barrier in place to stop any man coming to You”.

John 3 v 1…..There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews

 John 4 v 9…..Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans

DIG for Sunday the 21st of August…..but you’d not want Him at your temple…..John 2 v 15

Jesus made quite an impression at the wedding we looked at yesterday, and He mad a similar big impression at the temple.

Yesterday I said that by using the water pots for making wine Jesus was signalling the end of religion.

When He went into the temple He did the same again!

The moneychangers were an essential part of the temple system; you had to use their service in order to be able to buy the animals required for the sacrificial process.

So in order to have your sin dealt with you had to purchase an animal.

Hence Jesus was destroying the sacrificial system by chasing out the animals and the moneylenders.

He was telling the world that this sacrificial system would no longer be required.

He would eventually show the world that He was the best, and last, sacrificial lamb.

Once He dealt with all sin for all time forever, there would be no more sacrifices required.

He was the very last sacrifice; he ended this part of the religious system

Jesus did indeed come to end religion.

The moneylenders and sacrificial animals were surplus to requirements because of Jesus, so He simply got rid of them!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the finished work of Jesus and thank you that He came to end religion”.

John 2 v 15…..And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove then out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables

 

DIG for Saturday the 20th of August…..what an amazing guest to have at your wedding…..John 2 v 11

Jesus must have been an amazing guest to have at your wedding, well the wine would never run out for a start!

The wedding party and guests were the first group of people we see meeting Jesus as He set out on His ministry.

And right at the start of that ministry He performed a miracle that showed one of His main reasons for coming to earth; He came to end religion!

A careful reading of this account shows that He used the water jugs used for the Jewish purification process.

Once having had wine in them these vessels was useless for that purpose; they had been desecrated and therefore could not be used for fulfilling the law any more.

Jesus was telling the people, and telling us, that these vessels would no longer be required.

People would no longer need to fulfil the law, to take part in religion, in order to come to God.

People would now come to God through Him, so purification and other religious practices would no longer be required.

Once Jesus came religion was dead and no longer required.

The same is true today.

We are not required to carry out religious practices and performance to come to God; we come to God through Jesus.

He is the only way to the Father (John 14 v 6); religion is useless for this purpose.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the finished work of Jesus and thank you that He is the only way to come to You”.

John 2 v 11…..This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him

DIG for Friday the 19th of August…..what do you need, come see what I have, I know you, follow me…..John 1 v 43

After His baptism and before His ministry Jesus met His disciples.

It struck me today what He said to them in this passage of Scripture, and also the order He said it.

First He asked them what they were looking for (John 1 v 38).

Then He told them to come and see what he had (John 1 v 39).

He then spoke to Simon, telling him who he was and gave him a new name, or new identity (John 1 v 42).

Finally He asks then to follow Him (John 1 v 43).

This is a wonderful sequence of events.

Jesus knows what we need and He can provide it all and in abundance (John 10 v 10).

If we come to him we get a new name and a new identify; we go from sinner to saint (Ephesians 4 v 24)

Then all we have to do after that is follow Him.

Wonderful!

Jesus wants to show us what He has for us, knowing our every need, before we even do.

He wants to give every man a new name and new identity.

All He wants in return is for us to follow Him.

Now that sounds like a good deal to me!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the finished work of Jesus and thank you that I am now a saint”.

John 1 v 43…..The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me

DIG for Thursday the 18th of August…..even Jesus needed the Holy Spirit…..John 1 v 32

I’ve been thinking of starting writing DIG s about the people Jesus met through the Gospel of John and was about to look at the wedding at Cana, however I realised that prior to starting His ministry Jesus “met” another important person first.

Now of course this was not the first time they had met, but they had a significant “meeting” in the first chapter of this Gospel.

I am of course talking about the Holy Spirit.

Jesus was baptised in water by John the Baptist and as He rose out of the water He was filled with the Holy Spirit (John 1 v 32).

Yes, Jesus was God however He was also man and required the indwelling Holy Spirit to fulfil His ministry.

This is an example to us today; if we expect to be a success in ministry (indeed if we expect to be a success in life) we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Throughout the Book of Acts we see that believers were expected to be filled with the Spirit.

The Apostles asked if believers were filled with the Spirit and if they were not they laid hands upon them and saw them filled.

We do not see the Apostles operating in real power until they were filled at Pentecost.

Paul was filled with the Spirit prior to starting his ministry to the Gentiles.

We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and it is an easy process; ask and receive!

If you want more details contact me and I would love to tell you more.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the Holy Spirit, thank you that He came at Pentecost and has never returned”.

John 1 v 32…..And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him