Category: Can I Talk to God?

John 6:60,66-69 (NIV) 60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” 
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

In the midst of the chaos and tension of a majority rejecting Christ, Peter responds in the opposite direction, to cling to Jesus.  This is someone who knows that he knows, and it’s far beyond cognitive knowledge.

What is the basis of Peter’s affirmation (vs. the basis of others’ rejection)?

It wasn’t just me, but I got to be part of a whole class of students that got swept up in the call to follow Christ with the whole of our lives.  It wasn’t calculated or complicated, we were just experiencing so much of God’s care and also His calling upon us that we let go of any other place we could possibly go or turn to – he was it.

Let’s pray that God would raise up a new generation within Agape Churches of those who follow Christ, even in the face of pressure to do otherwise!

-BW

 

 

John 5:36-40 (NIV) 36 “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

The audience studied the Bible diligently, were proud of their detailed knowledge and adherence to the Scripture – yet Jesus says they had not heard God at all nor did God’s word dwell in them.  They had somehow missed the entire point – what is that point according to verses 39-40?

“But for someone like me, I needed to know ‘How do you know that?’ and I think the Bible is explicitly clear.  It tells you, the whole Bible, Old Testament all the way to the New Testament – points to Jesus.  My purpose in life is to love God, love people, bring Him glory – and I know that purpose because He tells me in the Scriptures.” -Odd Thomas

Lord, through the Scriptures help us encounter You as a living Person who deeply cares for us and desires eternal (God-given/God-ordained) life for us!

-BW

John 5:36-40 (NIV) 36 “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

The verb forms of the word testify point to the two pillars of proof, the two witnesses that seal the case for the defense.  Can you identify those two pillars based on the three bolded clauses above?

How do these witnesses provide incontrovertible proof regarding who Jesus is?

The implication is that we too are to know Jesus for who he really is through these two primary pillars.  I am so thankful for the Agape campus ministry at JHU, that week after week I got to experience exactly this through the help of the leaders and older brothers/sisters: Jesus’s teaching/miraculous transforming work and encountering him through the Scripture.

 

Pray for your ministry or missional group meetings for this experience of those pillars of faith over and over again: his very works and coming to him through the Scripture.

-BW

John 5:36-40 (NIV) 36 “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

Given the repetition of the word “testify,” what is the backdrop imagery?

Which side of that imagery is Jesus on and what is the main contention (v.36-38)?

“The one true God made a world that was other than himself, because that is what love delights to do.  And, having made such a world, he has remained in a close, dynamic, and intimate relationship with it, without in any way begin contained within it or having it contained within himself…In particular, this God appears to take very seriously the fact that his beloved creation has become corrupt, has rebelled and is suffering the consequences.” (N.T. Wright, Simply Christian 65-66)

Let’s thank the Lord for His care for us and His desire that we experience assurance and certainty when it comes to our relationship with Him and particularly about who He really is!

-BW

John 3: 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

According to this beloved passage, what is the relation between God and this world/us?  Is God distinct from this world/us?  Is God distant from this world/us?  What is His primary motive or intent when it comes to human beings?

As we consider how we are to know if the One whom we are speaking to is actually God or if the One whom we are hearing from is actually God, we find that the answer is not inherent to us, our cognitive understanding or human perception, but in the One who is distinct from us (His thoughts and His ways are not our own) but who reveals Himself to us!

“The need which the Christian faith answers is not so much that we are ignorant and need better information, but that we are lost and need someone to come and find us, stuck in the quicksand waiting to be rescued, dying and in need of new life.” (N.T. Wright, Simply Christian 92)

Let’s worship together to the song “Here I Bow” by Brian and Jenn Johnson: [click here]

-BW