Hosanna, Blessed is He. 5/31/15

Day 151 - Reading the New Testament in one year.

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/dramatized/niv/John.12

John 12:1-26

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint[a] of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.[b]” 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

7 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you,[c] but you will not always have me.”

9 Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.

Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna![d]”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”[e]
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:

15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
    see, your king is coming,
    seated on a donkey’s colt.”[f]
16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

Jesus Predicts His Death
20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.


23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

Supplied Life Devotional by Bill Freeman

May 31st Keep yourselves in the love of God   

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” JUDE 20-21
Things are never as bad as we think they are. It is the devil that tells us all the negative things. He is the accuser of the brethren. He is a liar. He is a destroyer. He is a killer. He is a cheater. He usurps us. God surely does not feel that way about you. We believe lies about ourselves. If we will just pray in the Holy Spirit, open our mouths and call on the Lord, or sing with our hearts, we will discover that God’s love in us is what is real. We can keep ourselves in the love of God by praying in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is within us. The love of God and the grace of Christ will flow in us in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 13:14). And that fellowship of the Holy Spirit is ours simply by praying in the Holy Spirit. This is how we keep ourselves in the love of God. Oh, what a love-life! This is an encouragement to everyone. Even if you feel like the most pitiful person, you are a candidate for the dispensing of this love-life. Just let the Lord in. And then keep letting Him in. Pray in the Holy Spirit, and you will discover how you feel about yourself from God’s point of view. You will say, “I am really in a wonderful condition! God loves me!”

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Jesus wept. 5/30/15

Day 150 - Reading the New Testament in one year.

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/dramatized/niv/John.11

John 11:30-57

30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

35 Jesus wept.

36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead

38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.

“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”

49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”

51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life.

54 Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.

55 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?” 57 But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him.

Supplied Life Devotional by Bill Freeman

May 30th An early-rising life    

“Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” MARK 1:35 It is encouraging to realize that the early-rising life has been received by us with much grace (1 Cor. 15:10). This means that spending time with the Lord by rising early is a matter of depending upon the energizing work of the resurrected Christ within us, and then cooperating with that grace by choosing morning by morning to rise up early to spend time with Him. Watchman Nee’s testimony, in his book A Living Sacrifice, is very helpful. He says, “Let me quote the words of Miss Groves, a co-worker of Miss M. E. Barber, who has helped us greatly. She stated that the first choice giving evidence of one’s love towards the Lord is the choice between one’s bed and the Lord. If one chooses to love his bed more, he sleeps longer; but if he chooses to love his Lord more, he will rise up a little earlier. She spoke these words to me in 1921, but I still sense the freshness of them today. Yes, a man has to choose between the bed and the Lord. If you love your bed more, sleep on longer; but if you love the Lord more, you must rise up earlier.”
We must accept the fact that the Lord’s life within us is stated as being “our life,” according to Colossians 3:4. Regardless of how we feel about it, when we received Christ we received an early-rising life (Mark 1:35), a prayer life (Heb. 7:16, 25), a love-life (Gal. 4:6), a fellowshipping life (1 John 1:3), and a feasting-upon-the-Word life (1 Pet. 2:2-3). These are the main features of this life which has now become “our life.” If we follow this life every morning by rising a little earlier, we will discover that there is a special capacity early in the morning to enjoy the Lord.

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Jesus comforts us. 5/29/15

Day 149 - Reading the New Testament in one year.

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/dramatized/niv/John.11

John 11:1-29

The Death of Lazarus

11 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you loveis sick.”

4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”

9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”

12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Jesus Comforts the Sisters of Lazarus

17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles[b] from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.

Supplied Life Devotional by Bill Freeman

May 29th God’s desires   


“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men.”
1 TIMOTHY 2:1
Not only do we pray with God’s intentions passing through us, but also with His desires passing through us. This is revealed in 1 Timothy 2:3-4: “God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.” This means that God’s expressed desire is for all men to be saved. So when we pray, we not only touch the larger scale of God’s intentions for the church and the kingdom, but we also allow God’s desires for all men to pass through us. This includes God’s desires for everyone in your life — coworkers, neighbors, classmates, the mailman, the checker at the grocery store, the person you met at the bus stop, as well as your family members and relatives. Paul says that first of all there need to be supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings made for all men. In spending time with the Lord we can allow God’s desires for others to pass through us.
Effectual prayer is made up of desire. For example, we may want to see someone saved. Yet, if in our prayer our own heart is not deeply moved for that one, such a prayer will never move the heart of God. If we ourselves do not possess the desire to see someone saved, how could God’s desire ever be released in our prayer? Paul illustrated this principle when he said, “Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we beseech you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). This indicates that God’s desires are not merely kept within Himself. They need a human channel to pass through. God’s desire to see the lost saved must be located within our very being. God’s desire must become our desire, culminating in our persevering in prayer for them.

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Believe Him. 5/28/15

Day 148 - Reading the New Testament in one year.

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/dramatized/niv/John.10

John 10:24-42

24 The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all[a]; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

31 Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”

33 “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’[b]? 35 If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? 37 Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. 38 But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” 39 Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.

40 Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, 41 and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” 42 And in that place many believed in Jesus.

Supplied Life Devotional by Bill Freeman

May 28th God’s intentions in us   

“In whom we have boldness and access with confidence through the faith of Him.” EPHESIANS 3:12 How much of God’s intentions have passed through us? Do we know what it means to pray, “Lord, Your name be sanctified. Lord, Your kingdom come”? For this kind of prayer we need light and revelation. So we should pray in this way: “Lord, fill me with Your intentions.” This is how Paul prayed. In his praying in Ephesians 3:9-11, he opened up the vision that controlled him: 9 “And to make all people see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; 10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,11 accordingtothe eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” In these verses Paul brings to light God’s intention in the universe — that which had its beginning in eternity past and will be consum- mated in eternity future, and which is now being made known to the principalities and the powers in the heavenlies. And what is God’s intention? God’s eternal purpose and intention is that His manifold wisdom would be made known through the church. Immediately following the declaration that God’s intention was accomplished, or carried out, in Christ Jesus our Lord, Paul says, “In whom.” Paul knew exactly where he was. He was in the Second in the Godhead. In whom? Christ Jesus our Lord. He merged with the prayer life of the Triune God. And in this One, Christ Jesus our Lord, he had “boldness and access with confidence through the faith of Him.” This means that Paul’s boldness and confidence and access to pray issued from God’s intentions pulsating in his being! When Paul spoke in this way — “boldness and access with confidence through the faith of Him” — he was building one word upon another. It was as though he had mounted up to the heavens to command the whole universe to come under God’s administration. Here Paul was not engaged in prayer to fulfill his own needs and desires. Although God does answer our personal requests, we need a higher vision so that we can pray with God’s needs and intentions in our being. This is the way Paul prayed. He fully merged in his prayer with the eternal intentions of the Triune God.

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Listen to His voice. 5/27/15

Day 147 - Reading the New Testament in one year.

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/dramatized/niv/John.10

John 10:1-23

The Good Shepherd and His Sheep

10 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.[a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

19 The Jews who heard these words were again divided. 20 Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”

21 But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Further Conflict Over Jesus’ Claims

22 Then came the Festival of Dedication[b] at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade.

Supplied Life Devotional by Bill Freeman

May 27th Sanctified by the Triune God  

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.” 1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-19
These verses reveal how the Triune God is interwoven with the various ways we contact the Lord. Here we see the Trinity — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. All Three are related to unceasing prayer, rejoicing, and giving thanks. This shows us that whenever we exercise ourselves in these various ways, we open the way for the Triune God to pass through us. It is by this passing-through of the Triune God that He sanctifies us. He sets us apart and saturates us with Himself. The apostle Paul declares in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your entire spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We receive life, we are cleansed, we are purified, and we are sanctified by allowing the Triune God to pass through us! Just let Him pass through. This is the benefit of praying and of spending time with the Lord — we are joined to the flow of the Triune God. When we pray we allow the Triune God to pass through us, to take care of every one of our needs — to impart life, to cleanse us, to purify us, and to sanctify us. This is the vision we need when we spend time with the Lord. Allow God Himself to pass through you. Just say, “Lord, I want You to pass through me now. I open myself to You from the depths of my being that You may flow in me.” Stir up your spirit in this way, and the living water will flow (2 Tim. 1:6-7).

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What is Spiritual Blindness? 5/26/15

Day 146 - Reading the New Testament in one year.

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/dramatized/niv/John.9

John 9:24-41

24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”

25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

27 He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”

28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”

30 The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

34 To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.

Spiritual Blindness
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”

37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

39 Jesus said,[a] “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

Supplied Life Devotional by Bill Freeman

May 26th The growth of God  

  “And not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the growth of God.” COLOSSIANS 2:19
There is a proper growth and an improper growth in the Christian life. The context of the above verse alludes to an improper growth. The Colossian believers were being robbed of their expe- rience of Christ and the proper growth of God. Paul describes this by saying, “Let no man rob you of your prize” (v. 18, ASV). Do you know what your prize is? Your prize and my prize is ChristHimself. Our prize is our present possession and enjoyment of Christ. Do not let anyone rob you of this. It is not merely that Christ will be our prize in the future. Christ is our prize right now as a present possession. The normal Christian life is that Christ is all to us at every stage of our growth. Nothing should replace Christ in our experience regardless of where we are. Paul exposes the things that were replacing Christ and robbing the Colossian believers: a false humility, worship of angels, being vainly puffed up by a fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head. When Paul says, “and not holding the Head” (KJV), he is telling us that there is a way to grow and a way not to grow. The way not to grow is to be focused on your self, having a relationship with your self, your flesh, your own energy, the law, and man-made religion. That is the way not to grow. Growing comes from holding the Head. “Holding the Head” is in the present tense, which means that you are continuously holding Christ as your Head. Whenever you hold something, you handle it. The Colossian believers did not hold the Head. They were not handling Christ. Handle Christ before you handle anything, especially your self.

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