The gospel of John provides 7 “signs” and 7 “I am” statements by Jesus to prove He is the Christ, the Son of God (John 20:31)*. I propose that the whole second half of the gospel is written in order to provide us with the ultimate “sign” (Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection). John’s gospel is written with the whole world as his audience, that means you and me! Embracing our knowledge and understanding (John 10:38) of the eyewitness accounts recorded in ancient literature authenticated and verified by historians, we can trust that deliverance from sin and oppression has come through Jesus. – Teresa

*The Bible Knowledge Commentary, by Walvoord & Zuck (p.269)

John 10:31-42 (ESV)

31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? 35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— 36 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 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 am in the Father.” 39 Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

40 He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. 41 And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” 42 And many believed in him there.

God buys back for His purpose all who are redeemed blessing them with a new and living hope. Where bondage holds captive, we have only to call to Him in our trouble. He promises deliverance and displays steadfast love. Grateful for His wonderful works, we can praise with the Psalmist, “thank the Lord for His steadfast love and His wondrous works to the children of man”. – Teresa

Psalm 107: 1-16 (ESV)

107 

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

    for his steadfast love endures forever!

2 

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,

    whom he has redeemed from trouble[a]

3 

and gathered in from the lands,

    from the east and from the west,

    from the north and from the south.

4 

Some wandered in desert wastes,

    finding no way to a city to dwell in;

5 

hungry and thirsty,

    their soul fainted within them.

6 

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

    and he delivered them from their distress.

7 

He led them by a straight way

    till they reached a city to dwell in.

8 

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,

    for his wondrous works to the children of man!

9 

For he satisfies the longing soul,

    and the hungry soul he fills with good things.

10 

Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,

    prisoners in affliction and in irons,

11 

for they had rebelled against the words of God,

    and spurned the counsel of the Most High.

12 

So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor;

    they fell down, with none to help.

13 

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

    and he delivered them from their distress.

14 

He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,

    and burst their bonds apart.

15 

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,

    for his wondrous works to the children of man!

16 

For he shatters the doors of bronze

    and cuts in two the bars of iron.

Lake Superior is one of the largest fresh water lakes in the world. When Jesus spoke about filling our lives with “living water” he not only alluded to having our thirst quenched but also promised a fountain sourced in eternal life. How can a well deeper than Jacob’s well be placed in our needy hearts? The Son of God invited us in John 7:37 to come to Him and drink if we are thirsty. This was on the greatest day of the feast of tabernacles where the cistern of water was poured out in remembrance of God’s provision for the children of Israel (Jacob’s 12 tribes) in the desert. If God could provide for His people physically, then how much more would He fulfill our spiritual thirst through the Savior of mankind. – Teresa #drinkandbesatisfied #Is55:1,2 #Hemakesallthingsnew

John 4:4-42 English Standard Version (ESV) 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.[a]

7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.[b] The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.

31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Footnotes:

a John 4:6 That is, about noon

b John 4:14 Greek forever

The temple of Jesus’ body was raised after being destroyed three days earlier. This is one additional “sign” that John placed in his gospel, written to all generations and cultures. “These (signs) are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God…” (John 20:31, NIV- parenthetical word added based on vs. 30). I urge you today to place your faith in God’s provision for the sin of mankind. -Teresa

John 2:18-22 (ESV)

18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple,[c] and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Do you know the voice of the good shepherd who gave His life for the sheep? While in Uganda, our team played a game with the students that helped illustrate this concept. Those who were blindfolded had to find the leader of their group by listening to a teammate (their good shepherd) who ran next to them, helping them find the way. Then we added in a distractor whose sole job was to mislead the blindfolded person and lead them astray. They would do this by speaking louder and more convincingly than the “good shepherd”. This Easter, be ready to add knowledge to your faith and don’t allow distracting worries prevent you from thinking about God’s truth. Allow yourself instead to hear the voice of Jesus speaking to your heart. -Teresa #dontbeworriedaboutanything #prayabouteverything

John 10: 11-15 (ESV)

11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,

15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. http://esv.to/John10.11-15

Even though we can’t see the other side on our final day we will still cross over at His bidding. In fact, the level of water He allows at the time of our crossing may indicate how much faith has been apportioned to us. -Teresa #ChristianabyJohnBunyan #thoughthewatersrisetheywillnotpullmeunder #BeboNormanbemycovering

There is new life each spring because Jesus chose to love us more than Himself. #humility

Never have I had so many buds on an orchid plant as this year! Most likely, remembering to put an ice cube weekly into the pot saved this plant’s life. The accountant in this parable was found lacking, he spent the last days on his job carefully plotting his future. By turning the master’s customers into friends, he was deemed shrewd. From Matthew Henry’s commentary, I was blessed to read about God’s eternal provision for those who care for God’s people. Certainly there is nothing we can do to earn salvation but those who have prospered in “worldly” ways may benefit from rubbing shoulders with those who suffer for God’s kingdom. In the end, they too may follow the light of the world and be prepared for eternity. – Teresa #weeklygiving #lifetime devotion

Luke 16: 1-17 (ESV)

16 He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. 2 And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3 And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ 5 So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He said, ‘A hundred measures[a] of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures[b] of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world[c] are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth,[d] so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

10 “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

The Law and the Kingdom of God

14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. 15 And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

16 “The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it.[e] 17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void.

When we treasure moments to be with those people and values closest to our hearts, we feed our soul with God’s goodness. Don’t ever replace precious people with “things” and don’t let those “people” who lack understanding of your values undermine your reason for building up “treasure”. Most important is His kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. He generously gives us life and we are honored to be part of His plan for the world-(see Ephesians 2:10). – Teresa #masterpiece

Luke 12:13-34 (ESV)

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Do Not Be Anxious

22 And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[a] 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,[b] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his[c] kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Do you believe? If so, the Son of Man will touch your eyes (not necessarily with mud and saliva) but in order to grant you spiritual sight. The blind beggar was not afraid of the “religious experts”, refusing to denounce the truth he experienced. Instead, he was a vessel of God’s glory and spoke out as a witness to this miraculous sign of Jesus’ deity. He believed and worshiped Jesus. We too may participate in being a witness of His great healing in our lives. – Teresa #IwasblindbutnowIsee #can’tstopworshipingHim #ifHewaslabeledsinnersomustwe

John 9: 18-41 (NIV)

18 They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 19 “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”

20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

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, “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.

Holy Bible, New International Version ®, NIV ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.