“Many came to him and said, “John never did a sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” And many believed in him there.”
John 10:41-42 CSB
The true testimony of who Jesus is, is enough for people to believe. Lord, help me to talk about You enough that people can believe and have what You promise: LIFE and PEACE!
“If I am not doing my Father’s works, don’t believe me. But if I am doing them and you don’t believe me, believe the works. This way you will know and understand that the Father is in me and I in the Father.””
John 10:37-38 CSB
Jesus is basically saying, “the proof is in the pudding”! Watch what I am doing, if you don’t trust what I am saying.
Lord, help my life to declare so clearly that I am Yours that people can listen to me or watch what I do and know that I follow You!
“The Jews surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
“I did tell you and you don’t believe,” Jesus answered them. “The works that I do in my Father’s name testify about me. But you don’t believe because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.”
John 10:24-28 CSB
Lord, thank You for choosing me, help me to listen to Your voice and do what You tell me! I know that on my own, every step of this is IMPOSSIBLE!
Hearing.
Listening.
Following.
Thank You for empowering me to know You!
“This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
John 10:17-18 CSB
Jesus’ obedience to God demonstrates His love. Further, Jesus has the ability to choose what He will do, God isn’t forcing Him.
We have the same free will and the same opportunity to receive love from God.
Secondly, Jesus is selfless in His actions, thinking about what would be best for others. We should imitate that as well…if we did, people would know we love them!
“The gatekeeper opens it for [the Shepherd], and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice.
A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
John 10:3-4, 10-11 CSB
One way we can tell if we are following Jesus is if He is giving us life in abundance…that doesn’t necessarily mean everything is going perfectly or that we are not experiencing trials, but it does mean that He is with us, and through whatever we face, we see His fingerprints and feel His peace. He knows us intimately, who I am, where I struggle and what my weaknesses are.
That is just as true if we are following a thief or a liar. Death and destruction abound. Joy is consistently stolen. We are facing trials, with no peace, full of fear and confusion. Every step seems to be trudging uphill through calf-deep mud sucking away our hope and energy.
Lord, I want to follow You! Remove the blinders when I am following the thief…let me hear Your voice and follow You!
“Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, in order that those who do not see will see and those who do see will become blind.”
Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things and asked him, “We aren’t blind too, are we?”
“If you were blind,” Jesus told them, “you wouldn’t have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.”
John 9:39-41 CSB
The Pharisees pride makes them fall and miss the overall message. So prideful, they didn’t for one moment reflect on what Jesus was saying…to consider how this may be true, but rather instantly were filled with confidence that they had nothing to confess. Their unwillingness to reflect was the very thing that condemned them.
Lord, open my ears and eyes to see where my pride is blocking me from being transformed. I want to be Yours in every part of my life!
“He answered, “Whether or not he’s a sinner, I don’t know. One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I can see!”
“This is an amazing thing!” the man told them. “You don’t know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes. Throughout history no one has ever heard of someone opening the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.”
John 9:25, 30, 32-33 CSB
What we do is evidence of who we are…this was true of Jesus and it is true of us.
Lord, help me to follow in Your way so that everyone knows that I am Yours!
