Live to Love Scripture Encouragement

John 4:11-12 She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?" Is it possible to get the supernatural from the natural? Jesus spoke of the supernatural, living water that would satisfy this woman's thirst forever, and she could only think in the realm of the natural. This is always the focus of unbelief. We saw the same unbelief in Nicodemus back in chapter 3. Jesus spoke of the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in the new birth, and Nicodemus, at the time, could only think in natural terms. The Samaritan woman and Nicodemus lived by what they could see, taste, and experience in the natural realm. How about you? How much of your life is consumed with the natural instead of the supernatural? The apostle Paul encouraged the Colossians to focus on the supernatural instead of the natural when he wrote, “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died (that is, died to your life in this world) and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:1-3). Can you see that Paul and Jesus were speaking of the same thing—supernatural eternal life in Christ? Unbelief, focusing on things as they are on the earth, is the greatest hindrance to living to love with Jesus. The love of God through our lives doesn't come from a natural well. We can't draw love out of our natural thinking, feeling, and fleshly efforts. It comes from the well-spring of living water residing within us that issues forth from where Christ is seated above in the heavenlies. So many people try to love their spouses, children, and others by looking at the natural realm. If you focus on the person, with all of their inadequacies, fleshly flaws, and offenses toward you, you'll find it impossible to love them. You aren't loving them with Jesus, you're being hindered by unbelief. Faith focuses on Jesus, His victory over the flesh, sin, and death, His fullness, and His love, which is the sustained direction of the will toward the highest good of another, no matter what the cost, in the power of the Holy Spirit, for the glory of God. Faith is what God has provided as the means to draw from the well of His life and love. So when you feel weary and thirsty, look to Jesus. Draw from His life within, and then pour out what you receive to those around you who are weary and thirsty. That's drinking the living water, of which Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman. When you turn from unbelief and live out of the living water of Christ, you are living to love with Jesus. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 4:10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” We see Jesus' reason for demanding a drink from the Samaritan woman. His command to give Him a drink revealed the intensity of His need. I don't want us to miss what I think is an important insight. This is the second time Jesus used the imperative verb form. Jesus didn't ask. He commanded her to give Him a drink. He didn't say, “Would you please give me a drink?” or “I'm thirsty, would you please help me?” Jesus wanted this woman to become aware of her deep and intense need for living water, so He understood the desperate need He had for a drink as the Father's way of informing Him of her need. He came to the well, weary and aware of His desperate need for what she could give Him. She came to the well, weary and unaware of her desperate need for what He could give her. If she were in touch with the spiritual thirst, she would have engaged Him and asked for what He could give her. We will see that He leans into this later in the conversation by revealing that her spiritual need, her thirst, had led her to drink from the wrong source—men. Jesus revealed three things she didn't know. She didn't know what He could give her. She didn't know who He was, and she didn't recognize her spiritual thirst. We can take great encouragement from this verse in several ways. One, we know the gift of God—eternal life—and we have it! We have experienced the love of God in Christ, so we should be motivated to tell others of His great gift. And lets' not miss this. It is a gift! One doesn't have to earn it or pay for it. It is given freely by the Father. Two, we know who Jesus is. He is Almighty God appearing in flesh. Jesus is the Son of God, the exact representation of the Father, the out flashing of His glory. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and the only way to the Father. We are blessed beyond words. Three, if we have realized our own desperate need of living water, then we have asked Him to give us that living water. We live out of the satisfaction of a never-ending flow of life in Christ. So, when we are weary, we know who to go to, and we know what to ask for—living water. Jesus, dwelling in us, is a source of constant fullness, a well that never runs dry. May we live out of His fullness and invite others to drink from Him. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 4:9 Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Obviously Jesus surprised her by His asking her for a drink. It wasn't normal for a Jew to cross the social and religious divide between Jews and Samaritans. It shouldn't surprise us, however, because we know that's what the love of God does—no divide is too great for His love to overcome. First, I remind you of my favorite definition of the God's love. It is the sustained direction of the will toward the highest good of another, no matter what the cost, in the power of the Holy Spirit, for the glory of God. Now, let's think about the power of the love of God revealed in Christ. He chooses to cross whatever barrier is in the way in order to love someone. Love doesn't let race, gender, ethnicity, intellectual, economic, cultural, or religious differences hinder its expression. We might ask a similar question when we think about God reaching out to us. How can You, being infinite God, ask me for help when I am a finite sinner? Or, how can You who is perfect in righteousness have anything to do with me who is so imperfect and unrighteous? We will consider Jesus' answer tomorrow, but today, let's be encouraged to not let anything hinder our expressing the love of God to others. Would you join me in praying with me what I call the Live to Love with Jesus prayer? Father in heaven, thank You for another day of life to know and love You and to live to love with Jesus. Anoint and fill us with the Holy Spirit, the presence and power of Christ, so that we can love and trust You, and love those You put in our paths today, for Your glory. Amen. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 4:7-8 There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Yesterday we were encouraged that God has divine appointments for us. The woman from Samaria had no idea at the first that she was having an encounter with God, but of course, Jesus did. Being weary and thirsty, it's easy to imagine what was going on in Jesus' mind as He watched her walking toward Him with her water pot. She could get Him a drink, which He needed for refreshment. Maybe they greeted each other cordially, or maybe not. It's not recorded. If these were the first words Jesus spoke to her, then it probably caught her off guard. Jesus didn't ask her to give Him a drink, He commanded her to do it. The reason given for Jesus' demand was that His disciples were not with Him. It implies that had they been with Him, one of them would have had the means to draw water for Him. But since He was alone, He needed her help. Let's notice what love did in this situation. First, let me remind us of God's kind of love. It is the sustained direction of the will toward the highest good of another, no matter what the cost, in the power of the Holy Spirit, for the glory of God. So Jesus' demand for water wasn't selfish, it was an act of love. He was relating to her for her highest good, which was to serve God by drawing water for Him. Jesus also glorified His Father by receiving His need for water as a need arranged by His Father. He also looked to His Father for the supply of His need. No doubt, He viewed the woman coming to the well as His Father's supply. Therefore, He concluded, that the Father's way of loving this woman was to use the circumstances to reveal the Father to her. He had a need, and she could help. Jesus often drew people into an encounter with God by asking them for help or using what they had at their disposal for God's work. A young virgin's womb, a young boy's lunch of fish and bread, hospitality from a tax collector, a man's donkey, or a friend's guest room are examples of the Father's provision for His Son. In each case, the Son had a need, and the Father glorified Himself in and through those who had what Jesus needed. The need was necessary, so God could be revealed. This raises a question. How often are we in need of help, but don't ask for it because we don't want to inconvenience anyone? Are we really loving them by not asking for help? This story encourages us that one aspect of loving with Jesus is to ask others for help when we have a need. As they respond, we then have the opportunity to receive their service in Jesus' name and point them to Him. If God brought them to us at just the right time, then we know it's a divine appointment—an opportunity to love with Jesus. This is what it means to abide in Jesus—to receive our circumstances from the Father as well as His guidance in response to the circumstances. The result will always be for the glory of God as we live to love with Jesus. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 4:5-6 So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. It was noon, and Jesus was tired. The well apparently was located outside the city of Sychar and more than likely beside the road upon which Jesus was traveling. It was like a Buc-ee's here in Texas or a rest area on the interstate—well, not exactly, but it was a place to rest and get refreshment. Our encouragement today comes from what we learn about Jesus from John's account. He was wearied from His journey. When we are doing God's will, it doesn't mean that it will necessarily be easy. We should not be discouraged if we have to make long, tiring trips, work hard, and need to pause for some R and R. It's okay and expected that we would experience weariness because we are in bodies of flesh. Because we are living to love with Jesus, we, like Jesus, also know we are on our way to love someone God wants to love through us. Jesus was waiting because He knew someone would eventually come and be able to give Him some water to drink. As He waited, He probably was receiving ideas about how He was going to introduce Himself and direct the conversation to a relationship with His Father. Be on the alert to the Spirit of God as you go places. Consider the setting, the possibilities of interactions with people, and ask the Holy Spirit to prepare you for them. Sometimes we may use the term “divine appointment” to describe an encounter with someone. When we live with Jesus' worldview, namely, there's only one God from whom are all things, and He is love, we view every encounter with someone as a divine appointment. Jesus knew any encounter He had with someone was a divine appointment. The Father arranged it, and Jesus expected His Father would reveal Himself through Him. We may have that same confidence as we go through each day. So, let's be ready for the appointments God has prepared for us today. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 4.1-4 by Norm Wakefield

John 3:36 He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. We find several encouragements in this last verse of the third chapter of John's gospel. First, we are encouraged by the grace of God. Faith is evidence of eternal life. John didn't say that the one who believes will have eternal life. They have eternal life. As the writer of Hebrews wrote in chapter 11, verse 1. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. It's the same with love. Love is the evidence of sins forgiven and eternal life. Remember the woman who washed Jesus' feet in the house of Simon? Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” Then He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.” Do you see it? Her love was an expression of faith, which was evidence of an awareness that her sins had been forgiven. She didn't love so that her sins would be forgiven, she loved because her sins were forgiven. So we can first be encouraged that if we believe in and love with the Son, God has been gracious to us and given us eternal life. Second, we are encouraged about the character of the faith God gives those who have eternal life. They obey Jesus. “Faith without works is dead,” wrote James in 2:26, in the same way “as the body without the spirit is dead.” The reason we live to love with Jesus is that we have faith in Him and therefore obey Him. He commands us to believe and love one another. Faith and love work together. Third, this verse encourages us to share the gospel and call people to believe and obey Jesus. Each person is responsible to believe and obey Jesus. If they do not obey, they will not see life. It is implied that if they do obey, they will see life. Sharing the gospel and calling for faith in and obedience to Jesus reveals the state of the person with whom we share. Notice there are two states of relationship with God. One has eternal life, and the other has the wrath of God abiding on him. Their responses to the gospel reveal their condition before God. The only way to discover those who have eternal life and those on whom the wrath of God remains is to share the gospel with them...

John 3:35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. What John the Baptist said about Jesus was ultimately the revelation of the Father, God's love for Jesus, His Son. The Father loves the Son, so the Father tells and shows Jesus all things that He is doing. That's why Jesus can testify of what He has seen and heard (vs. 32). It is the Father's love for His Son that He has given all things on the earth into His hands, including those Jesus and His disciples were baptizing (vs. 26). Not only did God create everything that exists through His Son (John 1:3), but He gave the entire salvation project of mankind into His hands. Those who are to be saved throughout the entire history of the world were given by the Father to the Son because He loves the Son. Listen to the first words of Jesus' prayer in John 17:1-3. Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. What does this mean to us? If we have eternal life in Jesus, it is because God loves His Son and gave us to Him. We are not the center focus of God's love. Jesus is. He loves us because He loves His Son. If we were not given to Jesus, we would not know God or love with Him—at all. God gave all things to Him so that He would be first place in all things. The apostle Paul stated clearly all that I have said in Colossians 1:18-20. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. So there is great encouragement to live to love with Jesus in this verse. Our salvation was generated by God's love for His Son, who gives the Spirit of love without measure to dwell in us. We are a love gift to Jesus. Therefore, we have been loved by the Son as He has been loved by His Father. Out of His fullness, we love others with Him. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 3:32-34. “What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure. I read these three verses together this morning because the apostle John taught about truth using John the Baptist's testimony regarding Jesus. Yesterday, I defined truth as what God does, says, and sees. I hope you can see how I came to that definition from these verses. Jesus is truly God, for He is the truth. He says what He hears and sees. If He hears it, it is the truth. If He sees it, it is the truth. If He does it, it is the truth. It is enlightening that John the Baptist connected Jesus' speaking the words of God and His giving of the Holy Spirit. What is the connection? In chapter 1, verses 33-34, John the Baptist said of Jesus, “I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.' I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.” To baptize in the Holy Spirit is to give the Spirit without measure. So let's connect truth: what God does, says, and sees, of which Jesus testifies, and Jesus giving the Holy Spirit without measure. When Jesus speaks, the Father and the Son are giving the Spirit of truth. Jesus called the Holy Spirit in John 14:16-17, the Spirit of truth. “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth.” To give the Holy Spirit to be with us forever is to give the Spirit without a standard of measure or limits. What Jesus sees the Father saying, doing, He also says and does. When God works, He works through His Word and His Spirit. Hopefully, now you can see the connection John saw between the word of Christ and the giving of the Spirit. They are united and inseparable. Now let me connect this reality to living to love with Jesus. The words Jesus hears and the act of giving the Holy Spirit come from God, who is love. 1 John 4:7-8. “ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” How is one born of God? According to Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus, one is born from above by the word of God and the Spirit of God. He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water [which is a reference to the Word of God] and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” When we receive the living word of God, Jesus Christ, we receive the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth. The fruit of receiving the word and Spirit of God is love. I hope you can see that living to love with Jesus in the power of the Spirit comes from the reality of the connection of Jesus speaking the words of God and giving the Spirit without measure. So, God is true, and God is love. If we are practicing the truth, we live to love with Jesus, who is God, in the power of the Spirit. That's our purpose for living. It is why a God of love sent His Son into this world. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 3:33 He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. Have you set your seal, given your stamp of approval, to the reality that Jesus is the Son of God, sent by the Father, God? Jesus' testified that He was the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one can go to the Father except by Him (John 14:6). His life was the testimony of God, for Jesus said that the Father abides in Him and He abides in the Father, and that when He speaks, His Father works (John 14:10). When the Father works in the hearts of people, He prepares them to carry the fruit of the Son, the love of God (John 15:3). “You are already clean (pruned, prepared for displaying the fruit of the Vine) because of the word which I have spoken to you.” The lives of believers validate the reality of God when they receive the testimony of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus gave a new commandment to His disciples that they should love one another as He loved them (John 13:34). The only way they could love like Jesus was if they received Jesus' testimony about Himself and believed that He was God (John 14:1). Jesus told His disciples that the day the Holy Spirit came to them, they would believe and know that Jesus was in the Father, that they were in Jesus, and that He was in them (John 14:20). They would know the truth that Jesus is God, and therefore that God is real. It has helped me to understand truth this way. Truth is what Jesus does, says, and sees. Let me remind you of what John said only a few verses earlier in verse 21. “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” The work of God in our hearts, which produces the life of Jesus in us, is the truth of God. It is what God does in us, therefore, we practice or live the truth. That's what it means to set our seal to the truth that Jesus is God and therefore the source of life. When Jesus testifies to our hearts about the truth that we are one with Him and He is our life, we live out the truth by abiding in Him. We come to the Light so that what He does, says, and sees may be revealed in our lives. Living to love with Jesus is the way we practice the truth and set our seal in this world to the reality that Jesus is God. Today, as we live to love with Jesus, we are showing the world that Jesus really is God. We have received Jesus' testimony. We want everyone to come to the knowledge of the truth that Jesus is God, has risen from the dead, and can live in them. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 3:32 What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. John the Baptist was speaking of Jesus in these verses. Jesus is from heaven, and what He has seen and heard in heaven, of that He testified on earth. In the first chapter of his gospel, the apostle John said that Jesus came to His own people and they didn't receive Him. In 3:11, Jesus told Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony.” So this point was important enough to John, that he mentioned it twice in this chapter. It raises the question for everyone reading, “Have you received Jesus' testimony?” It is because of Jesus' testimony that we call people to live to love with Jesus. He has come from heaven to tell us that God is love. He declared that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and that He has made God known. He came to live to love with His Father. He commands us to believe He is God and to love one another as He has loved us. He has given us the Holy Spirit so that He abides in us and we in Him. The proof of our relationship with God is the fruit of His presence and power in our lives. That fruit is love. If we don't love with Him, which is the only way we can glorify God, our lives are wasted (1 Cor. 13:1-3). We live to love because, unlike those of whom John the Baptist spoke in this verse, we believe Jesus' testimony of what He has seen and heard in heaven. God is love, and we're here to live to love with Him. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 3:30-31 He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. We are encouraged by these verses that Jesus is above all men and all things. John understood, and so should we, that we are of the earth and from below. In contrast, Jesus is from heaven and therefore should have first place in all things. This reminds us of what Paul wrote to the Colossians in 1:15-20. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. John came into public ministry before Jesus, however, John knew as soon as the Messiah was revealed publicly, he was to decrease in importance and significance. He was to move out of the spotlight and put Jesus in the spotlight. As we live to love with Jesus today, may we decrease and Jesus increase. May we put Jesus in first place in all things, making much of Him, so others may be saved and sanctified through Him. He must increase, but we must decrease. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 3:29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. This verse is John the Baptist's comment to his disciples after they informed him that more people were being baptized by Jesus and His disciples. Again, we see that Jesus' cousin knew his role—not only was he preparing the way for Jesus, but he was like the friend of a bridegroom who rejoices that his friend has found a wife and is getting married. Jesus is the bridegroom, and the people the Father gives to Him are His bride. John's joy at seeing people following Jesus was full. So should our joy be full as we see people become disciples of Jesus because we have pointed them to Him. Consider this: living to love with Jesus is acting toward their highest good. There could be no higher good for someone than for them to be given to Jesus as His bride. So one of many ways that we love them is to point them to Jesus to see if the Father will give them to Him. We introduce them to each other and watch to see if any spiritual chemistry develops between them. It will be easy to see, just like it was easy for John and His disciples to see. They will follow after Jesus. They will want to learn more from Him. Eventually, they will fall in love with Him and give their lives to Him willingly and joyfully. Our role is to be Jesus' friend and their friend. Maybe today we will have the opportunity to introduce someone to Jesus. Just this morning, while at breakfast in our hotel, I told our waitress, Mokgadi, that I had prayed for her earlier (which I had as I prayed the Live to Love prayer), thanking God for those He would put in my path today. I told her that Jesus knows her and I pray that she would know His presence. That's all there was time for. It didn't take long to introduce Jesus and Mokgadi to each other, so to speak. This evening, as we said good night to our driver who had been our guide for 3 hours at a game reserve here in South Africa, I simply told him that I wanted to thank God for him and asked if I could pray for him. He welcomed the prayer as I prayed for Jesus to make His presence and peace known to him as he went to sleep. May the bridegroom woo Simon to Himself tonight. That's living to love with Jesus, and the result will be hearts full of joy like at any wedding. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 3:27-28 John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.” You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, “I am not the Christ,” but, “I have been sent ahead of Him.” Today, I want to encourage us with three lessons from John the Baptist. First, he wasn't building his ministry; he received his ministry from God. John knew who his source was. He had nothing that wasn't given to Him from God in heaven. That's not only a humble attitude, but it is the truth which gave John confidence and relieved him of the stress of striving to be successful and significant. Understanding this truth is foundational to living to love with Jesus. We aren't trying to be successful lovers of God and people. We expect Jesus to love through us, day by day, moment by moment, as we encounter people. In fact, we live for that reality. That's the fruit we display that glorifies the Father through His Son, Jesus Christ. So let's remember, we aren't building a ministry for the glory of God; we receive a ministry through His life in us, so the Father will be glorified in the Son. Second, John the Baptist knew who he wasn't and who he was. He wasn't the Christ, and he was the Messiah's forerunner. Here's the question for us. Do we know who we are not and who we are? For instance, do we know that we are not God and we are His creatures? Nothing comes from us. We are not the source nor the authority in our lives. We were made for Him. We are to be Christ-imagers. We are not life, but we are recipients of eternal life. Life is not about us. Life is about Jesus. Do you see what I mean? Do we know who we are not and who we are? Third, all believers are sent ahead of Jesus in the lives of those who will eventually follow Him. Yes, it is possible for God to draw someone to Christ without their having been influenced by a follower of Christ, but as a general rule, we make disciples of Christ by first building relationships with them. Just as John prepared the way for Christ in the lives of his followers, there will be people who are attracted to Christ in us who will, in a sense, follow us. They will first connect with us before connecting with Jesus, like John's followers connected with him before following Jesus. Who are your followers that you are pointing to Jesus? I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 3:25-27 Therefore, there arose a discussion on the part of John's disciples with a Jew about purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.” John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.” What a profound reality: “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.” John's explanation to his disciples of Jesus' ministry could be said about every person. John had no jealousy of Jesus because He trusted God. There's no competition when you know it is God who decides what you have and what you don't have. In my book, Live to Love, I present three foundational truths that form the basis of Jesus' worldview and therefore those who live with Jesus. The first one is that there is one God from whom are all things, and He is love. Hopefully, you can see that John believed that as well. It was the Father, God, who gave John the followers that he had, and the same was true for Jesus. All that were following Jesus were doing so because the Father was giving them to Him. The second foundational truth is that God's love revealed in Christ satisfies the deepest needs of my soul. Finding one's satisfaction in God's love, another way of saying that one abides in God's love, which enables one to be content with what God gives him. John the Baptist was content with those who followed him and were baptized by him because He found His satisfaction in God's will. One of my favorite definitions of humility is that one who has a humble heart recognizes that everything he has comes from God. Can you see that John's comment reveals humility? Another way of saying, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven,” is to say, “Everything that occurs in one's life is from God, because there is only one God, and He is love.” We must walk in humility if we are going to live to love with Jesus. The primary purpose of the branch of the grapevine is to receive from the vine in order to display the fruit of the vine. As people cross our paths, we receive them as from the Father. Since we believe the Father sent them to His Son in us, we also look to Jesus within and receive what He gives us to love as they are given to us. We believe that if we receive someone in His name, then we may expect His grace to love them. I hope this encourages us today to recognize that we do not have anything that we haven't received from our Father in heaven. He loves us and intends to glorify His name as Jesus loves through us. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 3:22-24 After these things, Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and baptizing. John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized-for John had not yet been thrown into prison. Baptism is an identity issue. The concept is that of one being immersed into a community, such as those anticipating and looking for the Messiah. John baptized people who were awaiting the coming of the Messiah and were preparing their hearts for Him. Jesus was baptized by John because He was the one for whom they were waiting. It was necessary that He identify publicly with those who were waiting for Him. Notice in the following verses what the uniting message was between John and Jesus. Matthew 3:2. “Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Jesus and His disciples began to baptize followers for the same purpose.” Mark 1:14-15. “Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.'” You'll notice their messages were the same. Those baptized by both John and Jesus were identifying with Him. Baptism symbolizes a life-changing reality. God immersed us into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, ‘Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord'” (1 Cor. 1:30-31). He has baptized us into His love where we are to abide, stay, live, and draw the grace we need for our daily lives. We love because we have been baptized into His love. We are filled with Him, surrounded with Him, and move and have our being in Him. He is life to us. Being satisfied in His love, we have an unshakeable fullness out of which His love flows. Jesus is the spring from which we live to love for the glory of God. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 3:21 But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God." God has revealed His amazing love in Christ. Love has moved God to send His Son to be a savior to those upon whom He has chosen to lavish His love and grace. They once loved the darkness and ran from light because their deeds were evil. John described those who are saved in verse 21. They practice the truth by coming to the Light because they want God to get the glory. They want it to be shown that the works they do are God-wrought works. Let's notice that coming to the Light is a continual action—they practice the truth. What is the truth that they practice? They practice this truth: flesh cannot please God. All of their efforts to be righteous fall short of the glory of God. They aren't afraid of coming to the Light with their evil deeds because they know they are covered by the blood of Christ. They also believe another truth: Any good in them, even that of hating the darkness and loving the Light, is a work of God's grace in them. That's why I say we are living to love with Jesus and not just living to love. We acknowledge that the love we have for others is the love of Jesus, Himself, not a result of our good works for our own righteousness' sake. We know God only gets the glory if He does the work. Our prayer is for our works to be wrought in God, accomplished by Jesus working in and through us. Our boast is not in ourselves, but in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul echoed this truth in a couple of passages. Ephesians 2:10. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” And in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” This is the truth we practice by coming to the Light. We live to love with Jesus by the work and grace of God. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 3:19-20 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. We read today about the very opposite of living to love with Jesus—living to hate without Jesus. The presence of Light makes five things evident about those who are in the world and in need of the new birth and eternal life. As we continue to read through this gospel, John showed that this judgment of God is true. He sees that those without Christ do evil, hate the Light, love the darkness, and will not come to the Light for fear of exposure. The presence of Jesus, the Light, reveals that God has already judged them. He sent His Son into the world to save the world, which turns the light on them. They scurry away into the darkness because of fear and hatred of the Light, according to His judgment. Everyone in the world is hopeless and helpless unless God does something in them. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and it is hostile to God, as the apostle Paul wrote to the Romans in 8:6-8. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. They cannot live to love and please God because the flesh isn't able to do it. The only works that please God are His works through His Son by the Holy Spirit. This is the good news John is proclaiming in this gospel! In God's great mercy and love, Jesus told Nick that He is sending the Holy Spirit to give new life and reveal Himself. We will learn in the next verse how God's work in the hearts of men is revealed by the Light. Our encouragement today is that if we are living to love with Jesus, these verses no longer describe us. They should also awaken inside of us a compassion for those in the world who are trapped in darkness. We may expect that there will be some who will react with hatred. It's not hatred of us, but hatred of the Light. They will think we are toxic to them. When we share God's Word with them, thinking it will encourage them, they will accuse us of abusing them and weaponizing the Scriptures. These verses teach us why they respond the way they do. They show God's judgment—they hate the Light because their deeds are evil. We do not need to judge them, but instead, love them with Jesus. Let us love the Light and reveal the love of God to them, praying that God, in His great mercy and love will send the Holy Spirit to give them life in Christ. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 3:19 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. Light reveals what exists. That's how God judges. When we walk into a dark room and turn on the light, the state of the room is revealed. The presence of light doesn't change what exists in the room. The light reveals what is in and out of place. The point is that light reveals things as they truly are. We learn from this verse that God sent the Light into this world. He turned the light on in the world, so to speak. What is the state of mankind in the world? Their evil deeds reveal that they love darkness rather than the Light. This is God's judgment that Jesus spoke of in the previous verse when He said, “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already.” In John 1:4-5, John wrote, “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” So the state of mankind, bound in the darkness of sin, has been revealed. Without God doing a miraculous work of mercy and grace, every man is judged and condemned. Today, take a moment and consider how you respond when God turns the light on your evil deeds. When He reveals that you are unbelieving, fearful, selfish, impatient, lustful, impure, idolatrous, mean, hurtful, and untrusting, do you run to the Light or do you try to hide and excuse yourself? Your response is the judgment. There will be times when God reveals that you aren't abiding in Christ (which means the Spirit has turned on the light). Humble yourself, quickly look to Jesus again, and thank Him for judging your sin in His Son on the cross. Then turn to Him, declaring that He is your life. Ask Him to love through you for His glory, and His Light will shine through you. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 3:18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Before we unpack this verse, we need to understand something about God's judgment. God's judgment isn't like man's judgment. When man judges, an action occurs, then judgment follows. In the kingdom of God, a sinful action reveals God's judgment. Let me explain it from Paul's epistle to the Romans in 1:17-24. For in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore, God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity. How is God's judgment that a man is righteous before Him revealed? God sends them the gospel through which the gift of righteousness is manifested as God gives Him life in Christ, and he believes. God-wrought faith is the evidence that God's judgment is true, namely that the person's sins have been judged in Christ, therefore, he is not judged. This God-wrought work in the heart of men will be mentioned later in John 3. The judgment of God preceded the action of a faithful response to the gospel. God sees the man in Christ, proclaims Him righteous, and reveals this reality through the testimony of faith which God gives him when he hears the gospel. If this is a new thought to you, then I encourage you to look closely at Rom. 1:16-28 and meditate on it, asking the Holy Spirit to help you understand. Now consider how God's wrath against sin is revealed. God gives a man over to what He sees inside him. He judges that he is unbelieving, and then to reveal His judgment is right, He reveals Himself in creation and through the gospel, and his unbelieving response proves God's judgment is true. Again, God's judgment precedes the unbelieving response to the gospel or God's revelation. He sees the unrighteousness and ungodliness in the man that suppresses the truth, judges it, and then reveals His judgment by leaving him to himself to do what God sees in his heart. So when the Son of God comes into the world as the light of the world, and a man doesn't believe, it is evidence that he is already judged. That's why Jesus said, “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” So here's the encouragement for today. If you are living to love with Jesus, you believe that your sin has been judged in Him at the cross. Your unbelieving, self-directed life has passed away. You are not judged like the unbelievers are. You also believe that He lives and that He is your life. That's why you live today—to love with the living Christ who dwells inside you. Does this encourage you? I hope so. Otherwise, you have been judged already, and I encourage you to repent of not...

John 3:17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. As we consider verses 16-18, we want to be careful not to think that God loves everyone in the world with the same love. Jesus was making the point to Nicodemus that eternal life isn't just for the Jews. God promised Abraham that through him, the nations would be blessed. Psalms 22:27-28 declares God's love for the nations. “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will worship before You. For the kingdom is the LORD'S and He rules over the nations.” Isaiah prophesied in 2:2, Isaiah 2:2, “Now it will come about that in the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it.” From before the foundation of the earth, God planned that everyone he would save in the world would only be saved through Jesus, His son. The plan from the beginning was to send His Son into the world to take away the sins of the world, not meaning every sin of every man, but that there would be no sins taken away from anyone that was not taken away by and through His son, Jesus. Peter explaining to the Jewish rulers, elders, and scribes how the lame man was healed in the temple said, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). That is the point in these verses. Nicodemus had mentioned at the beginning of the conversation with Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher.” Jesus corrected his understanding. He came from God this first time to be a savior. He will come another time as the judge of the world. That second coming is recorded in Acts 17:31: “Because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” We live in what is called the age of the Gentiles. Paul referred to it in Rom. 11:25: “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” This is the time when the Spirit of God is blowing through history, giving life to the Gentile world through the gospel. Each believer becomes a testimony of the love of God for the world, as Jesus mentioned in John 3:16. Living to love with Jesus is how we participate in the advancement of the kingdom of God. Our love for others is a testimony to Jesus' resurrection and the continued demonstration of His love for the world. We have been saved through Jesus, and therefore, we expect others to also be saved through Him. He came to live and love in us so others might be saved. There is no other name given by which anyone may be saved. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 3:14-16 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Do you remember the story from Numbers 21, when the people complained to God and to Moses about food and water? God sent fiery serpents to bite them, and many died. In verse 9, we read, “And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.” Let's be encouraged by God's love for His people, Israel, and then His love for the world. Nicodemus would not have been shocked by God's love for Israel. What would have been shocking would have been to learn that God loves Gentiles in the same way He loves the Jews. These verses in this conversation put the spotlight on what Jesus had been saying. The only way into the kingdom of God for both Jew and Gentile is by new birth, by the Holy Spirit, who gives them faith in Jesus' substitutionary death. Everyone has been repeatedly bitten by the serpent of sin. Without God's provision of an object of faith, like the serpent Moses lifted in the wilderness, everyone perishes. It was the love of God for Israel that moved Him to provide a way of healing and deliverance. In these verses, what would have shocked Nicodemus was that God loves Gentiles also with the same kind of love. He is providing a way for anyone in the world to be healed and delivered from sin's fatal bite. Yes, it is the general love of God that provides the object of faith, but it is the covenant love of God that provides the faith to believe in Jesus, the Son of God. For faith to be given as an assurance of eternal life, it has to have an object. Jesus' substitutionary death is the object God has provided. Then, God can clearly show those who are in His kingdom through faith. Those to whom God gives eternal life will believe in Him and trust in Him, as the Holy Spirit gives new birth. What were the implications of this conversation to Nicodemus if he understood it? It meant that Jews and Gentiles were on equal ground before God. Self-righteousness and religious practices were meaningless. The old covenant was about to pass away and become obsolete, replaced by a new covenant through the blood of Jesus. Eternal life was to be offered to the world, and the way to eternal life was to be through the execution of the man standing in front of Him. All of this is because of the love of God. As we love with Jesus today, may our hearts be amazed at the scope of God's love and the love that has provided eternal life to us through the gift of faith. To God be the glory. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 3:12-13 If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. There's a lot in these two verses, but I want to focus today on one thing. As of the moment Jesus was speaking, no man had ascended into heaven and descended from heaven but Jesus. He came from heaven, but He had descended from heaven and ascended to heaven many times throughout history. Therefore, He could speak of heavenly things. As He previously said, He spoke of what He knew and had seen. He knew of the new birth from a heavenly perspective. He understood, had seen firsthand, and participated in the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. Such is the authority of Jesus when He speaks. The writer of Hebrews told His readers about Jesus speaking of heavenly things when he wrote, God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Heb. 1:1-3) And again in this passage. How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. (Heb. 2:3-4) God has spoken through Jesus of heavenly things, like the new birth and the powerful ministry of the wind of the Holy Spirit. Nicodemus could not see how the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven intersected. His only points of reference were in the natural realm. To his thinking, if one was in the lineage of Abraham, then he was in God's kingdom or family. When Jesus spoke of the necessity of the new birth, it was outside of Nick's understanding. It was a mystery to him. A mystery is something that is outside the range of unassisted comprehension—only to be understood with the help of the Holy Spirit. I've discovered that living to love with Jesus is also a mystery. One can't understand it without the Holy Spirit's assistance to believe that Jesus is God in the flesh, has died and was raised (descended from and ascended to heaven), and now has sent the Holy Spirit to generate His life in the bodies and souls of His children. So they live to love with Him in this world. Do you understand that Jesus is life, and He lives in you? Do you see His passion in your life for loving His Father and others? I hope so. That's what I'm calling you to—to live to love with Jesus. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 3:11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. It's not clear who the “we” is to whom Jesus referred. It could be the prophets or the disciples. But it sounds very similar to what John wrote in the intro to his first epistle. “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us.” I want to encourage you today that if you are living to love with Jesus, you are included in the “we” of our generation. You know and have seen that Jesus lives and loves through you. By experience, you know Jesus and the truth of the new birth. You can also testify that Jesus lives in you and can live in them. Let's be sure that our walk matches our talk. We don't just say we believe Jesus died on the cross and our old powerless and sinful lives died with Him, we also don't live under the slavery to those lives of unbelief, self-consciousness, and pride. The feelings of our old self must not govern our responses to circumstances and people. To live to love with Jesus is to know Jesus, to know His feelings, faith, obedience, and love, of which we speak. Our lives are a testimony to the life of Jesus that we have seen in our lives. So, our confidence is in Jesus living in us, and when we practice the “truly, truly” of that confidence, our walk will match our talk. I hope we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen in Christ. Even so, there will be some who do not accept our testimony. At the time of Jesus' encounter with Nicodemus, Nick didn't understand or accept Jesus' testimony. However, we discover later on that he did come to believe and follow Christ. So, let's not be discouraged if people don't “get” us or accept our testimony. Let's continue to love them and share what we know and have seen of Christ. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 3:9-10 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?” Nicodemus was puzzled and confused at Jesus' talk about the new birth by the Holy Spirit. “How can these things be?” In 1 Corinthians 2:14, Paul wrote, “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” Spiritual life cannot be understood by the natural man. Having biblical knowledge also isn't the same as having a spiritual life in Christ. Nick was considered to be the teacher of Israel, not just a teacher in Israel. Certainly, he was knowledgeable of the Old Testament history and theology. Nevertheless, he could not understand how new birth by the Spirit was possible. Why are spiritual things difficult to understand for those who don't have spiritual life in Christ? Jesus had just told Nicodemus why the natural man cannot understand the things of God when He said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” The apostle Paul further explained why the flesh cannot grasp spiritual life in Romans 8:5-8. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. I was not given spiritual life until I was 29. I grew up attending church, learning about the Bible, having been a youth director, and was a teacher. When I look back at those years, the Spirit of God was with me, making me hungry for spiritual life. Like Nicodemus, I was drawn to people who had spiritual life because I wanted what they had. I wanted to know what I could do to get it. And therein lies the hostility of the flesh. Isn't there something I can do to get life? And the answer is, “No.” New life in Christ comes like the wind. One can't control it. One can't make it happen. It is a gift from above. The encouragement we gain from this truth is that if one is hungry for it, like Nicodemus was, the wind is already blowing, and the hunger is the sound of it. The Father is blowing the hungry soul to Jesus like He did Nicodemus. Living to love with Christ is a result of being wind-blown by the Spirit. Love is the sign or fruit of the Spirit. Do you understand how this can be? If so, rejoice and love on. If not, don't be discouraged. You are standing in the wind, and in time, you will understand because you will experience the glorious, powerful work of the living Son of God as His Spirit moves in your heart and soul. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 3:7-8 Do not be amazed that I said to you, “You must be born again.” The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit. “You must be born again by the Spirit.” The word translated wind in verse 7 is the same word translated spirit in verse 6. The analogy is clear. One cannot control the wind or the Spirit of God. Like the wind, the Spirit of God moves as it wishes and where it wishes. You don't know where either has come from nor where it is going. You only detect where it is at the moment—where you are. I think what Jesus was saying to Nicodemus would have been very troubling. It meant that with all of his learning, social status, and achievements, without the detectable move of the Spirit, giving him new life from God, he was dead and not in the kingdom of God. I guess that Nicodemus was used to being in control of things, and Jesus' authority with which He spoke and security certainly would have been upsetting. Jesus' statement should evoke a similar amazement to those who rely on their righteousness or goodness. Flesh goodness is just as impotent and condemned as flesh badness or weakness. Whatever is born of flesh is still flesh, regardless of any perceived benefit or service. That's why trying to love and serve God and others without Jesus is an exercise in futility. Love, God's love, only makes an impact where the Spirit of God, the wind of the Spirit, is blowing. It is evidence that the kingdom of God is present, and those through whom the wind is blowing have been born again. We should not be amazed at this reality, according to Jesus. It is the way the kingdom of God is manifested. Have you been born again? I hope so. You can know that you have been because you can hear the sound of the Spirit blowing through your life. You'll love God's word, love His people, and love for God to be glorified in your life. May the wind of the Spirit carry you today. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Today, I want to encourage you to live to love with Jesus. To love with Jesus, one must be born from above by the Holy Spirit. The life of Christ must reside within for the love of God to be revealed. Jesus was talking with Nicodemus about the new birth. Nick responded from a fleshly perspective when he asked about entering his mother's womb. Whatever is born out of the strength and power of the flesh can only produce flesh work. Jesus replied by speaking of new birth by the Holy Spirit. If one is born of the Spirit, then the fruit is Spirit work. This verse underscores for us the importance of loving with or through Jesus. First, let's notice that if our loving is flesh born, it is lifeless and fruitless for the glory of God. Second, if our loving is born of the Spirit, it is full of life and fruitful for the glory of God. Someone who is not born from above cannot produce anything but flesh, regardless of how good it may appear to others. God sees the source. It's flesh. When God gives new life by the Holy Spirit, He does so to produce fruit for His glory by the power of the Holy Spirit. To live to love with Jesus, we must abide in Him and draw from the life of Christ within, which is born from above by the Holy Spirit. When we love like that, we are glorifying God because He is doing the work for us. May we live our lives today filled with the Holy Spirit so that His love is revealed in our lives for God's glory. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” In this passage, we have further comments from the Lord Jesus about the new birth, giving us three points of encouragement. Again, Jesus prefaced this statement with “Truly, truly,” to emphasize the reality of what He was about to say. So, we have good reason to believe what we are told. First, Jesus gave the means by which one is born from above—water. I won't take the time or space to explain why this isn't a reference to baptism. Instead, I encourage you with what the most reliable commentaries conclude. Water was used emblematically. Jesus used water in this way in John 4:14 in speaking to the woman at the well. “But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” And again in John 7:38, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'” We also learn from other Scriptures that it is the Word of God that is the seed or means of new birth. James 1:18 “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.” 1 Peter 1:23 “For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.” It could also be a reference to Jesus Himself, who is the living Word. In John 14:10, Jesus said, “The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.” Then, in John 15:3, Jesus spoke of the cleansing or pruning power of His words that prepared His disciples for fruit bearing. “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.” So the Father does the cleansing work of new birth through Jesus' words. We are born again through God's Word. Second, Jesus spoke of who produces the new birth—the Holy Spirit. We have a very clear testimony to both the cleansing effect of the Holy Spirit's power in the new birth in Acts 15:8-9. “And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.” The Holy Spirit regenerates us and gives us new life. Third, we are encouraged by the result of the new birth—entrance into the kingdom of God. Jesus had just told Nick that without the new birth, one couldn't see God's kingdom. This statement perhaps enlightens us as to what Jesus meant by “see the kingdom.” To see the kingdom is synonymous with entering the kingdom. Those who are born again from above gain entrance into the kingdom of God. The word of God is how the Holy Spirit births people into God's kingdom. This encourages us about what to say to people who ask us about our faith and the hope we have. Our confidence is not in what we have done or are doing but in what God has done and is doing. He has caused us to be born again through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:3) by the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 1:2) as He implanted the word of God in our hearts (1 Peter 1:23), the fruit of which is a sincere love of the brethren (1 Peter 1:22). Let us praise God for His love and power which has birthed us into His kingdom of love. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 3:4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?” And the answer is obvious: “No, a man cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born.” We learn from Nicodemus' question that he had no concept of spiritual regeneration. He didn't understand what Jesus was talking about, much less see his need of being born from above. Unfortunately, the concept is probably strange to many people today, who, like Nicodemus, have been raised in a God-fearing, Bible-teaching, church-going family. Even more tragic cases are the Bible teachers and preachers who, like Nicodemus, have much knowledge but do not have the life of Jesus born in them from above. More than likely, Nicodemus' relationship with God was based on his living for God and the accumulation of knowledge about God and the Law. He probably considered himself to be one of the most important spiritual leaders in Israel. We learn later in John 7:50 that he was a member of the Pharisees. With all of his learning and recognition, Nicodemus lacked spiritual understanding of life in the kingdom of God. It is impossible to live to love with Jesus without being born from above by the Holy Spirit. It is the work of the Spirit that transfers us out of the domain of darkness into the kingdom of God (Col. 1:12). The Holy Spirit is given by the Father and the Son, Who implants within our souls and bodies the life of Christ. He is born in us by the Holy Spirit, like He was born into this world through Mary. In both cases, Jesus receives a body in which to live to love with His Father. As Jesus said in John 14:23, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.” God is love, and He plants His seed (the Holy Spirit) in the soil of our souls. Living to love with Jesus is the fruit of God's seed. Being born from above, we have the living Word of God, Jesus Christ, dwelling within us. As we abide in Him, His life is revealed in this world. Do you understand what Jesus said to Nicodemus? Have you been born again by the Holy Spirit? Do you see the love of Jesus growing in your life? I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Let's notice that Jesus' words are a reply to Nicodemus' recognition that Jesus has come from God and that God is with Him. This verse is very popular in evangelism. I want to encourage us today by noting 4 facts. First, what Jesus said in this statement is true. Jesus confirmed a reality in life. Therefore, Nicodemus and we should pay close attention to the truth of what Jesus said here. By the way, let me remind you that the truth is what God says, sees, and does through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the truth (John 14:6). Second. We see the necessity of the new birth. Physical birth into this world is a birth into death. We are born spiritually dead, unable to see the work of God in this world. John echoed this truth in 1 John 3:14: “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.” Nicodemus was considered by Jesus to be the teacher of Israel. He was, therefore, knowledgeable, dedicated, and a sincere seeker of truth. So, Jesus' statement that one must be born from above to see the kingdom of God informs us that natural birth, religious zeal, and knowledge aren't what gives one the ability to see and know God. The Greek word translated again by the NASB is literally from above. So here's the truth: to have life in the kingdom, that life must be generated by God in heaven. By the way, John had already stated this back in 1:12-13. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” Jesus is the life (John 14:6). Third, the kingdom of God may be right in front of you, but without new birth, you can't see or recognize it. However, one who is born from above has spiritual insight, the ability to see and understand spiritual things. The writer of Hebrews in 11:1 called this faith: the ability to see the unseen things. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Jesus is the way (John 14:6). Fourth, the regenerated person can see God working in everything, which is what the kingdom of God means. The kingdom is wherever the will of an eternal, sovereign God rules or reigns—which is over the entire universe. Psalm 103:19 states it plainly. “The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.” So the person who is born from above can see God at work because the person and the work have the same source of origin—the Spirit of God. So what was Jesus saying to Nick, and what was John saying to his readers? If you can see God's hand in everything, then you have the life of Jesus. If you cannot, then your greatest need is for God to instill the life of Jesus in you. There's no way to live to love for the glory of God without the life of Jesus. You must be born from above to love for the glory of God. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 3:1-2 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” John wrote in 2:23, “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing.” Nicodemus was an example of one of these “believers” because of the signs. Our lives should also provoke genuine seekers to inquire about our lives because love is a sign that we are from God. The apostle John wrote in 1 John 4:7, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” I'm guessing John wrote that because of what Jesus said in John 13:34-35. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Love is a sign that we are from God, born of God. I have participated in the training of mission teams sent out by Global Challenge Expeditions based in South Africa for years. One year, a team of 8 young men traveled together for a week on a boat up the Amazon River. The passengers slept on deck in hammocks, and the team built relationships with others who were on board. My friend, Peter, told me about a conversation he had with two men, one an atheist and another a new ager who believed everything happened because of the power of the universe. Peter and his friends shared about the experiences with God that they had on their journey in hopes of witnessing to them about Christ. The two men told of their experiences but attributed their occurrences to either luck or the universe. It was like the contest of signs between Aaron and Moses and Pharaoh's magicians. One would tell a story of God's wonders, and the other would try to match the story with the wonders of the universe. Peter said they went back and forth until he drew the attention of the two men to how he and his team loved each other. Peter said something like, “You've watched us all week. Have you noticed how we love each other? That's been the greatest experience of our journey together.” Both of the men remark that they had noticed and that they have never experienced that kind of love and luck, and the universe can't do that. The door opened for them to have a discussion similar to that between Nicodemus and Jesus. The love of Christ within a community is a sign of God's presence and power. As we live to love with Jesus, we should expect and be ready for those who notice the love and want an explanation or more information. Are you living in such a way that those who observe your life on a daily basis take notice that there's a supernatural power at work in you? I encourage you today to be ready for those inquiries. Over the next few days, we have much to learn from Jesus on how to direct those conversations. May we be encouraged today to live to love with Jesus, trusting our Father to draw people like Nicodemus to Christ in us. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 2:24-25 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man. These two verses are insightful. First, Jesus did not believe in man's believing as a result of merely undeniable facts, such as signs. The word entrusting comes from the word pistis (faith), which comes from the root peitho (to persuade or convince). When we believe something, we trust in it. Jesus did not trust in man's natural faith. Nor should we. Second, Jesus knew all men. The comment is interesting because John didn't say that Jesus knew these specific believers in His name, but that He knew all men. He knew what was in them, namely, the sin of unbelief and the inability of man to generate within himself new life. He knew He could not entrust Himself to any man unless the Father testified to Him that they were His, which leads us to the next insight. Third, Jesus didn't need anyone to testify or witness on behalf of man because the only testimony He needed was the testimony of the Father, that is, revelation by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of men concerning who He is. We see this most clearly in the encounter between Jesus and Simon Peter recorded in Matthew 16:16-18. Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. Do you see it? Once Jesus heard His Father's testimony on Simon's behalf, the declaration that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, He knew Simon could be trusted with the keys of the kingdom. No one else could testify for Simon that He believed in Jesus' name. God-wrought faith is the testimony of God concerning each man. I get this from Hebrews 11. In verse 2, it says, “For by it the men of old gained approval.” The word translated approval is the same root word in John 2:25 translated testify. So, faith is an assurance or a testimony that men receive or gain from God, which testifies of His approval. Then the author went on to write about God testifying to Cain, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and many more that they were righteous by giving them faith. Without the testimony of His Father, Jesus would not entrust Himself to anyone. So we learn from these verses that there's a difference between the testimony of men who say they believe in Jesus and the testimony of God that produces saving faith in Jesus. Love for God and love for His people is the fruit of God's testimony concerning a man or woman. That's why I say we have been called to glorify God by living to love with Jesus. It is God's testimony to us that we truly have a God-wrought faith to which Jesus entrusts Himself. Please follow my line of reasoning. Love is the fruit of His life. If love is the fruit of our lives, not that we are perfect in love all the time, but that it is the practice of our lives, then Jesus has entrusted Himself to us. Isn't that assuring?! Living to love with Jesus is God's testimony to the world that we are His and Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 2:23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. The things Jesus did in the temple took place during the Passover, which means His coming death and resurrection were on top of mind. Surely He could not observe the Passover Sabbath week without thinking that He was the substance of the events. He was the lamb slain. His was the blood to be spilled and would mark the doors of hearts over which the death angel would pass. So the cleansing of the temple was a sign among many signs, apparently, done during the feast. John testifies in this verse that there was a faith of some sort generated by the signs. At first glance, this seems like a good thing. However, we are going to learn in the following verses that faith that comes from undeniable facts isn't the same as faith generated by the Holy Spirit. We'll talk more about that in the days to come. The point I want to make for our encouragement is what I have been saying in the last few days. We, the church, are a sign that God has placed before the world. As we live to love with Jesus, many will observe our love and believe in His name. But that doesn't mean they are born again or have new lives. Not everyone who says they believe has eternal life. They may believe it because they cannot deny the facts. Many people have grown up in Christian homes who are like the believers spoken of in this and the following verses. They cannot deny what they have seen, heard, and experienced. They have once been enlightened, have tasted of the heavenly gift, have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted of the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, as it says in Hebrews 6:4-5. Yet, they fall away in unbelief. Their salvation is not our responsibility. Our responsibility is to be an observable sign that Jesus is God living in bodies of flesh—our bodies. His love in us is the sign of new life and the power of God. Let us live to love with Jesus for His purposes and His glory, leaving all who cross our paths in His hands. We may trust the Holy Spirit to do the miraculous work of imparting new life as He wills. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 2:20-22 The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken. To the unbelieving, the church of Jesus Christ is an absurdity. Notice that the Jews were mocking, scorning, and taunting Him. They were reproaching Him. They couldn't understand what He meant by saying, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” But before we judge them too harshly, let's notice that His disciples didn't get it until after His resurrection. When they became the sign, they remembered His words and believed. I take some encouragement from this. Many times, I have read God's word and didn't understand it until days or even years later. I'm sure that as I meditate, pray, and write on these verses, I don't get all that is being said here. How about you? I bet you've experienced the same. Yet that does not render us useless. God is so patient and enduring. His steadfast love is everlasting. He loves us, and there is a time to come when, if He so wills, He will bring to our remembrance what He has said, and it will make sense. In John 14:26, Jesus said, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” His disciples experienced this ministry of the Holy Spirit, of which these verses testify, and so do we. How many times have you been blessed by the Holy Spirit's ministry to you? When you needed it, He reminded you of some verse of Scripture that was perfect for the moment. That's happening to me now as I write, and the Holy Spirit connected John 1:22 and John 14:26. I had never noticed that connection before. So the encouragement today is that as we live to love with Jesus, we may expect the Holy Spirit to bring Scripture to mind so that we and others may believe in Him. That's a great motivation to us to live in and by His Word—read it, meditate on it, memorize it, and pray it. May the Holy Spirit fill us with His Word as we live to love with Him.

John 2:19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Today, we look at Jesus' answer to the Jews' demand that He show them a sign to verify His authority to cleanse the temple of the corruption He found there. First, I want you to notice there's a play on words here. What Jesus did in the temple was a sign that the temple was to be destroyed. It was prophetic and authoritative. He knew God was destroying the temple of fleshly, powerless, corrupt expressions of religion. His actions were a sign against the temple and the Jews. Second, these words were prophetic. He was speaking of His death by their hands and His resurrection three days afterwards, through which He would raise up a new temple in which God would dwell. Please, let's stop and meditate on what He said. He prophesied it, and it has come to pass. We are the fulfillment of those words. Listen to the apostle Paul's understanding of this reality, which he wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:14-17. For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 15and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. 16Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. 17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. In verse 17, the words “He is” are not in the Greek. The NASB puts it there as implied. Literally, it reads, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, a new creation…” The new creation is the body of Christ, the temple raised on the third day after His death. We no longer know Christ in His earthly body, but in His new body, His temple, in which He dwells. In Jesus' response to the Jews asking for a sign, He spoke of both His earthly body and His new body. Doesn't this amaze you?! We are encouraged today that Jesus knew us that day when He prophesied that a sign would be given. We are that sign! The living body of Christ, filled with His love and holiness, fulfilling God's purpose in this world. We have been a sign of the authority of Christ over the temple of God. Ephesians 1:22-23 “And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Jesus Christ has authority in His temple. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 2:18 The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?” Today, we consider the reaction of the Jews to Jesus' zeal for His Father's house. Of course, they didn't understand it. It's interesting to me that His disciples remembered Psalm 69:9, but the Jews did not. “For zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.” In this verse, we see the beginning of the reproaches of God that fell on Jesus. The Jews displayed contempt for Jesus. They scorned, shamed, and taunted Him. Their reproaches of Jesus were toward God, for Jesus is God. The zeal Jesus expressed for holiness and God's house was the Father's zeal. The Jews couldn't see it because they didn't believe He was the Son of God, God in the flesh. So they demanded a sign to verify His authority. Tomorrow, we'll look at the sign Jesus was to give them. But today, let us be encouraged by this: Jesus is God in the flesh, and we not only have trusted in Him, but we have His life in us. We can expect two things. One, that as we live to love with Him, we will have a zeal for holiness and love for His people which will motivate us to drive out sin in our lives. Two, we may expect religious people who don't have the life of Christ to reproach us, even as the Jews reproached Jesus. The reproaches of those who reproach Jesus will fall on us. We should not be surprised if we are scorned, shamed, and taunted because of our zeal for holiness and love for God and His people. May we not be discouraged by their reproaches, but instead consider ourselves honored that we would be considered worthy of such reproaches. As Jesus said in His sermon on the mount. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matt. 5:10-11). Living to love with Jesus isn't always easy or comfortable. However, there is a blessing and hope that should fill us with joy. It's the same hope Jesus had that day when He cleansed the temple. He foresaw the new house that was to be built by His Father and Himself, of which all who believe in Him until the end of their lives are living stones. So walk in love and holiness today with great hope and joy. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 2:15-17 And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father's house a place of business.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house will consume me.” If you missed yesterday's podcast on the previous verse, I suggest you listen to it first. It sets the stage for what we read in these verses. We see Jesus' zeal for His Father's glory and His determination to love His elect from all peoples expressed. As I shared from Leviticus yesterday, Jesus fulfilled the Law and cleansed His Father's house of a leprous mark, preparing the way for His Father's condemnation and removal of the old covenant. A better covenant with a new house of prayer for the blessing of the nations was coming. The focus of these verses is to testify to Jesus' zeal for His house. My encouragement today is that Jesus hasn't changed, and He lives in us. That same zeal is present in our hearts if we abide in Him. His life becomes our life. His purpose becomes our purpose. His attitudes become our attitudes. His zeal becomes our zeal. His love becomes our love. The new house God constructed to replace the old, infected, and condemned house is His church. It's all of us who believe in Christ for access and fellowship with God. One expression of the love of Christ is zeal for God's house, which means zeal to love one another in holiness. Jesus has cleansed us forever. He has set us apart to Himself. We have been perfected in holiness for all time (Heb. 10:14). I take this to mean that if I see a sin or fleshliness in myself or my brother, I remove it from my sight, put it out, by faith in the blood of the Lamb who was sacrificed for us. The old house of flesh has been condemned and destroyed by His death, and a new house has been built through His resurrection and life. This zeal to love one another should consume us as Jesus' zeal to cleanse His Father's house consumed Him. They are the same because they are both in Jesus, who lives in us. May we be filled with His zeal and love for one another. May we remove those marks of flesh and sin which were condemned at the cross. Let us drive out all greed, hypocrisy, and carnal sacrifices so that His presence and love may fill His house today in zeal for God's glory. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 2:14 And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. We read today about a tremendous demonstration of Jesus' love for God, the people, and holiness. This is one of two times Jesus cleansed the temple of corruption. Both times were necessary according to the Law of Leviticus 14:34-40. When you enter the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a mark of leprosy on a house in the land of your possession, then the one who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, “Something like a mark of leprosy has become visible to me in the house.” The priest shall then command that they empty the house before the priest goes in to look at the mark, so that everything in the house need not become unclean; and afterward the priest shall go in to look at the house. So he shall look at the mark, and if the mark on the walls of the house has greenish or reddish depressions and appears deeper than the surface, then the priest shall come out of the house, to the doorway, and quarantine the house for seven days. The priest shall return on the seventh day and make an inspection. If the mark has indeed spread in the walls of the house, then the priest shall order them to tear out the stones with the mark in them and throw them away at an unclean place outside the city. When Jesus came into the temple, He found a mark of leprosy in God's house of prayer. And by the way, He owned the house. The Law commanded that the house be cleared of the mark and then quarantined for a period of time to see if the house needed to be condemned and destroyed. If after the house was cleansed, the corruption returned, then God was condemning the house to destruction, and they were to tear out the stones that were infected. Notice in the passage that it was God who put a mark of leprosy on a house. We will read the next couple of days how His zeal, His love for His Father, and the blessing of His people who were to come to pray consumed Him. As He lived to love with His Father, His Father displayed His love for the nations and the holiness of His house. Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 56:6-7, Also the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to Him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the sabbath and holds fast My covenant; even those I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.” My dear Gentile brothers and sisters, Jesus loves us! He loved us then, and He loves us today. He has brought us by His blood to His holy mountain, the place of salvation, the new Eden, the holy space where God in heaven has fellowship with redeemed mankind on earth. We have access to God in prayer because we are His house—cleansed, holy to the Lord, if we hold fast our confidence in Christ and the boast of our assurance firm until the end. We do that as we live to love with Jesus. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 2:12-13 After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother and His brothers and His disciples; and they stayed there a few days. The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Let's begin with a couple of facts. The distance from Cana to Capernaum was around 16 miles (which is almost 26 kilometers for my friends in other countries). The journey from Capernaum to Jerusalem was 85 miles or almost 137 kilometers. The average walker would make the trip to Capernaum in 5 hours and 15 minutes with no stops, so we know that didn't happen. Perhaps with stops to rest, eat, and perform several unrecorded acts of love for people God put in Jesus' path, the journey from Cana to Capernaum took a day or so. If we use the same calculations for the trip to Jerusalem, it was perhaps a 4-5 day journey. So from the time of the wedding until Jesus arrived in Jerusalem was somewhere around 12 days to two weeks. I shared these facts with you because that's around two weeks of Jesus' life and works of which we know nothing except His general location. What we do know is that every one of those days, He glorified His Father by loving with His Father. Everything He did and said was as necessary, powerful, and life-changing for those the Father put His path as the events at the wedding in Cana. The last verse of John's gospel says, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written (21:25). The same is true for you and me. Very few of the things we do each day will be remembered, much less written of, but that doesn't mean they aren't necessary, powerful, and pleasing to the Father. As long as they flow out of an intimate relationship with Jesus, the Father is glorified by Jesus in us. I encourage us all to abide in Jesus and not despise the little things, the mundane, the seemingly unnotable acts of love and service. Although they are not captured in print for others to read or see, the Lord has taken notice. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Eph. 2:10). These many things are not recorded, but they are all for God's glory. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 2:11 This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. Today, I want us to be encouraged by the glory of God in Jesus Christ. We learn from this verse that the miracle of changing water to wine was a revelation of Jesus' glory, which had an impact upon His disciples. First, consider that the glory Jesus manifested was given to Him by the Father. We learn that from John 17:5, “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” And in John 17:22, “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one.” The way the Son of God received glory from His Father was by His Father working in and through Him. The way the Son glorifies the Father is by receiving His will, word, and power one moment at a time. Jesus says as much in His answer to Philip, who asked that He show the Father to him and the disciples. Listen carefully to these words and notice that Jesus' primary aim was that the Father be glorified in the Son. Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. Do you see it? When Jesus receives the Father's thinking (which, by the way, is the Greek root of the word glory), the Father does His works in Him. When the Father does His works in Jesus, He glorifies the Father, and He receives and manifests His glory from the Father. S,o this makes sense that John would say that the sign Jesus did at the wedding manifested His glory. I draw this conclusion. Jesus glorified His Father, God, by living to love with His Father. We fulfill our purpose of glorifying God by living to love with Jesus as He glorifies the Father through and with us. Here's the encouragement for all who live to love with Jesus. Like Jesus, our primary aim is that the Father be glorified in the Son. The Father is glorified in His Son, Jesus, as we abide in Jesus and His life is manifested in and through us. As we live to love with Jesus, Jesus does the work of love for us as we ask Him to do it like He promised in John 14:13-14. Did you notice above in those verses that Jesus invited them to ask, and He promised twice to do it for them? If the Father does the work in Jesus, His glory is manifested. If Jesus does the work in us, the Father i glorified in the Son in and through us. Therefore, I conclude with this encouragement. When we live to love with Jesus, and Jesus lives His life in us, we fulfill our ultimate purpose of glorifying God. We receive the glory of God manifested in the life of Jesus Christ, who lives in us. When this happens, people will believe in Jesus as they witness and experience His love. There is no greater purpose for your life than this: living to love with Jesus for the glory of God. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 2:8-10 And He said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it to him. When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” What an amazing experience this must have been for Mary as well as the servants who had exhausted themselves filling and transporting the six waterpots. They obeyed Jesus and became participants in Jesus' first miracle of His ministry. This underscores the importance of bringing our problems to Jesus and obeying Him as we walk with Him. I'm reminded of verses 8-9 in chapter 5 of Hebrews. “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.” Jesus becomes the source of salvation to everyone who obeys Him. The obedience spoken of in that case is to believe in Him by entering God's finished work through Jesus Christ as our High Priest (Heb. 4:14-16). However, in this story, we see an example of the fruit of obedience daily, situation by situation. If we draw near to God through Jesus Christ, any time we need mercy or grace to help in time of need, we can be confident He will give us what we need on time, just like He did at the wedding. Mary brought the need and the servants to Jesus. They obeyed Him, and He was faithful to deliver them out of the predicament. This will happen to us as well if we will abide in Him, receive what He gives us to do, and do it with all the strength and wisdom He gives us. Living to love with Jesus is an adventure of fullness. We become participants in the miraculous work of God in this world. We will experience His faithfulness, and as a result, our faith and love will grow. Let's notice that when we obey in faith what He gives us to do, He always supplies abundantly. In this case, the host and guests were fully satisfied. Additionally, I'm sure they had a lot of great tasting wine left over, just like there were many baskets of fish and bread left over when He fed the thousands. We may expect God to do above and beyond what we could think or ask if we will surrender our lives to His service of love. There is great joy in living with such purpose and obedience to Christ. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 2:6-7 Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. First, let's recall what happened at the wedding in Cana. Jesus and His disciples were attending a wedding, probably of a family friend. A serious problem arose when the supply of wine ran out. Mary brought the problem to Jesus. Jesus' response to Mary was that this problem wasn't His or His disciples' problem, and that His time hadn't come. Nevertheless, His mother, Mary, in some way responsible for the servants serving the wine to the guests, told the servants to do whatever Jesus said to do. So now the situation is in Jesus' hands. Second, let's consider Jesus' options. He could have done nothing. Or He could have spoken wine into existence into the empty wine jars that had been used. His Father could have had a wine supplier drive by at just the right time with a wagon full of wine. But there's an important lesson for us to learn about Jesus. He believed everything that happened in His life was given from His Father to glorify His Father by demonstrating His satisfaction in Him and to reveal the Father's love. So He simply received what the Father gave Him, both in the specific circumstance and in response. When Jesus noticed the waterpots, He received them as the Father's provision for the situation. This is what He did later in His ministry when faced with the hunger of thousands of people on a couple of occasions. The Father provided a few fish and loaves of bread, so He worked with what He had. In living to love with Jesus, if we will have the same humble attitude of receiving what our Father gives to us, His love will flow freely through us. Third, when God is at work, it doesn't mean we won't have to work. Finding as much as 180 gallons of water, filling the pots, and then transporting them wasn't an easy or quick task. It could have taken hours. All we know from John's report is that the servants did what Jesus said. The typical way God works is through us. In this instance, the servants were serving the guests but doing so through the guidance and power of Christ. What they had to do certainly wasn't convenient nor easy. As we live to love with Jesus, we should not be surprised nor put out if loving comes with the cost of inconvenience and exhaustion. We, like the servants, should be ready to do whatever He tells us to do so that God may be glorified as we look to Him for guidance and power. Fourth, the servants didn't just put water in the pots, they filled them to the brim. As we serve the Lord in all that we do, let's do it to the fullest degree. Think of it this way. The servants gave Jesus as much water as they could for Him to work with. Let's do the same today. Let's give Jesus all that we have so that He might be revealed in glory through our lives. We simply receive from Jesus and then give our all. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 2:5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” It seems obvious that Mary had some responsibility at the wedding that involved the serving of the wine. It was probably an act of love for dear family friends. Giving directions such as this indicates she had some jurisdiction over the servants. At this point, she introduced Jesus into the situation and gave Him jurisdiction over them. As we live to love with Jesus, that's what we are to do in every situation. We recognize that He has jurisdiction, the right to speak, over our lives. You'll notice, that's exactly what she did. She gave Jesus the right to speak to the servants. As we go through each day, I encourage us to look to Christ, expecting Him to speak into our lives and into the lives of those we encounter. We can see from Mary's directions to the servants that she fully expected Jesus to speak and act. That's faith in action. Let's be encouraged by Mary's example. She loved her friends and hosts, the servants, and the guests at the wedding by bringing Jesus into the situation. That's what living to love with Jesus is. It's faith at work through love. We also can bring Jesus into every situation and relationship by recognizing His presence. He lives in us. We believe He will provide the grace needed in the moment, just as Mary did. I also am encouraged to have an attitude of attentiveness and obedience to Jesus and His word. When we read the Bible, we are paying attention to what Jesus says. The Word of God, applied to our lives by the Holy Spirit, is the same as listening to Jesus speak. Our response should be to do what we hear. I'm reminded of Jesus' comment about who His family is. It's recorded in Luke 8:21. “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.” Like the servants, don't we want to listen to whatever Jesus says and do it? So, our encouragement today is to have the same attitudes Mary and the servants had. Bring Jesus into every situation. Listen to Him, and then do what we hear. That describes well the live to love with Jesus adventure. Pay attention and obey. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 2:4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.” Jesus' answer to His mother first strikes me as disrespectful, but we know it wasn't. You'll notice He didn't ask, “What does that have to do with Me?” Perhaps it was another way of saying, “Their problem isn't our problem.” Then He brought up a timing issue. “My hour has not yet come.” So what encouragement may we draw from Jesus' response to His mother? As I noted yesterday, Jesus' agenda and time table was 100% the same as His Father's. So, let's see if we can process this as He would, by reviewing the three foundational worldview truths of Jesus. There is only one God, My Father, from whom are all things, and He is love. My Father's love is enough. He satisfies the deepest needs of my soul. My Father's purpose in all things is to reveal His life in me for His glory. We learn from John's gospel that Jesus abides in His Father's love and will. John 15:10. “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.” Psalm. 40:7 informs us regarding Jesus. “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (in the scroll of the book it is written of Me) to do your will, O God.'” So we know in this instance at the wedding in Cana, Jesus' was indicating to Mary that His life wasn't dictated by the tyranny of the urgent or the glory of men. The only One who mattered in His life was ultimately, His Father. Yes, He knew the Father had control of the wine situation, but He was waiting on His Father for His response. That's what living to love with His Father looked like. This is the encouragement we can draw from this verse. If we are living to love with Jesus, we too must learn to wait on the Lord before we react or respond to every circumstance and person. We glorify Him as we find our satisfaction in Him and His will above all things. Then, when He reveals Himself through u,s we display His fruit, by which the Father is glorified and pleased. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 2:3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” Well, that was a big problem and quite embarrassing to the host. We don't know at what point the wine ran out, but it became the setting for Jesus' first miracle. Mary brought the situation to Jesus. Since Jesus is with us, we need to remember that every problem we encounter should be brought to Him. Let's look at this situation from Jesus' perspective. First, Jesus believes there is only one God from whom are all things, so He knows the situation has been given to Him from His Father. Second, He also knows that His Father's love and doing His Father's will is His greatest satisfaction for His soul. So, as we will see in the next verse, He isn't swayed by the expectations of His mother, the host, or the attendees. So this situation is primarily between His Father and Him, not He, Mary, and the host. Third, Jesus knows that His Father's purpose in this situation is to reveal the Father and bring Him glory. Jesus abides in the Father, and we know from John 8:28 and 14:10 that He doesn't do anything or speak anything of His own initiative. So when He speaks or acts, we are seeing the Father at work. Have you realized that since Jesus lives in you, that every situation in your life, since you believed in Christ, is given to Jesus in you? It is given by the Father so you might glorify God by being most satisfied in Jesus' love and will for your life and therefore reveal the presence and power of Christ in each situation. Just as in this situation at the wedding, every circumstance in your life as a believer in Jesus is given to you for the Father and the Son to be glorified and revealed. You aren't the primary concern. The Father and the Son are the focal point. This is the mindset of living to love with Jesus. We have His worldview that shapes our responses to people and circumstances. To abide in Jesus is to think like Jesus. You know whatever happens in your life is being given by the Father to the Son living in you so that He can be glorified as you honor Him as God and find your soul's greatest satisfaction in the love of Jesus and God's will. Then you wait on Jesus to give you what you need to say or do to reveal that He lives in you. Whatever you receive, you give— if God's word confirms that it is an expression of His truth and love. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 2:1-2 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. We can't be encouraged enough to live our lives with Jesus. In this verse, we see that both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. I guess the hosts knew that if they invited Jesus, they had to also invite His disciples. He didn't go anywhere without them. Or maybe the hosts understood that if they invited Mary, they had to invite her Son and His entourage. Whatever the case, there's a great truth I want to encourage you with today: If you go somewhere, Jesus is with you, just like if Jesus went somewhere, His disciples were with Him. There's never a time when Jesus isn't with us. In John 14:16, it is recorded that Jesus told His disciples, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever.” Then, in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” And after giving them marching orders to go to make disciples in the nations, He promised, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” The encouragement is this: Wherever you are, He is with you! You may expect to see Jesus do great things because you are with Him, and He is with you. The next few days, we'll be encouraged by how the Father loved His Son, His mother, and the entire wedding party. Walking in love with Jesus is an adventure. Remember, you are not alone. Wherever you go, Jesus is with you. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 1:50-51 Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” We've been talking the last two days about the supernatural work of God in our lives and in the lives of those Jesus loves through us. These two verses testify to the supernatural work of God to be expected in the lives of those who have been granted faith in Jesus. Upon Nathanael's testimony of faith, Jesus planted seeds of expectation in him. Jesus knew that if Nathanael believed in Him based on the initial revelation by the Holy Spirit, then it was the first revelation of even greater revelations about Jesus to come. It is the same with all who believe in Jesus. As the writer of Hebrews 11:1 stated, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for.” Let me encourage you today in this way. Jesus gave two commandments in one. We are commanded to believe in Jesus and to love one another as He has loved us. The apostle John shows how connected these two commandments were when he wrote in 1 John 3:23, “This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.” Do you see it? One commandment is explained by two commandments: believe and love. Now, let's make the connection with what Jesus knew about Nathanael in light of his testimony of faith. Jesus knew that faith was a testimony of God on behalf of the believer. And if the Father gives someone faith, then there's more, much more to come. For Nathanael, Jesus was specific about what He was to see. The encouragement for us is this: If God has given us the ability to obey the first commandment to believe, then He will also give us the ability to obey the second commandment to love. Jesus assured Nathanael of future grace and revelations of God's power and glory. We can also draw a similar assurance because Jesus' assurance was based on truth. He said, “Truly, truly.” This was another way of testifying that Nathanael's faith was the work of God. If you believe in Jesus, then I can say to you also, “Truly, truly, you will see greater things in your life than the work of faith. You'll see the heavens opened over the Son of God abiding in your life. You will do greater works of grace and love for the glory of God because that's how faith works—through love (Gal. 5:6). Let me make another connection and encouragement from this passage. Jesus said Nathanael would see angels descending and ascending on the Son of Man. Hebrews 1:13-14 tells us about the ministry of angels.

John 1:49 Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” Yesterday, we noted the supernatural element in our love and concern for others as we live to love with Jesus. The Holy Spirit can give us a personal knowledge of people as He helps us be attentive to them. Nathanael's conclusion from Jesus' revelation that He knew him indicates another supernatural work as we love with Jesus. If you remember, Philip's testimony to Nathanael was, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote-Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael knew what Philip meant by it because he declared, “You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” The statement seems convincing, doesn't it? There doesn't seem to be any doubt or question in Nathanael's mind. This testifies to another supernatural element to this encounter between Jesus and Nathanael—the revelation of who Jesus is by the Holy Spirit. This should encourage us that as we receive Jesus' work in our own lives, we can expect the Holy Spirit to also work in the hearts of those we love with Him. Our confidence isn't in our abilities or words but in His presence and power. That's why we pray each morning in the Live to Love prayer, “Father, anoint and fill us with the Holy Spirit, the presence and power of Christ, so that we can love and trust You and love those You put in our paths today for Your glory.” By the way, if you haven't made a habit of praying your version of the Live to Love prayer, I invite you to visit www.livetolovewithjesus.com and familiarize yourself with the prayer. Take up the invite to pray the prayer each morning for 60 days, and see what the Holy Spirit does in your heart and life as you prepare yourself to be a channel of God's love through the life of Jesus dwelling within you. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 1:47-48 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Did you notice what Jesus did to draw Nathanael? Jesus' comment revealed that Jesus knew him to some degree that was important to Nathanael. This encourages me in how I might love like He loves—be attentive to people, notice important things about them. For instance, I've noticed that if I remember someone's name after first meeting them and call them by name within the first minutes, it shows that I care. Noticing their name on a name tag and calling them by name makes the encounter more personal. Jesus remarked that Nathanael was a man of integrity, which took the encounter to a personal level. There seems to be a supernatural element to this encounter with Nathanael. It's difficult to know for sure whether Nathanael was within eyesight of Jesus when Philip “found” him. Nevertheless, I think when we are living to love with Jesus, expecting Him to love whoever He puts in our paths, we can expect a supernatural attentiveness and insight. I remember walking into the Brave to Love ministry offices. It is a ministry in South Africa dedicated to rescuing women from sex trafficking. I initially felt awkward about this opportunity because, as you probably know, my ministry has primarily been to men. However, the Holy Spirit reminded me that Jesus was the one loving them. I simply needed to go, receive, and give what I was given by the Holy Spirit. It was a supernatural encounter. The Lord reminded me that they had been treated as objects, and He wanted to show their value as persons by simply caring enough to remember their names as I met them, and as soon as possible, call them by name—often. I asked about their stories and the history of the ministry and then gave glory to the Lord for His grace to them. I don't know the full impact of that meeting that day; however, when I returned the next year to present a Live to Love conference, some of the staff and girls attended the conference. I would like to think that they experienced the love of Jesus, which drew them to have an interest in a future encounter. The encouragement I am hoping to give you today from this verse is that as you live to love with Jesus, you can expect the Holy Spirit to give you a supernatural concern and care for people, which He will then use to draw them to Christ. They may not know it's the love of God, or they might. That's part of the live to love with Jesus adventure. We love with Jesus, experience his love and concern for others, and watch Him work as He draws people to follow Him. The Holy Spirit can give us a personal knowledge of people as He helps us be attentive to them. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 1:45-46 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote-Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” For our encouragement today to live to love with Jesus, I would like to note two things. First, let's be encouraged by the Spirit-led excitement in Philip to share the good news of finding Jesus. How much more should we be ready to share what we have found in Christ. We know the good news of sins forgiven and access to His throne of grace. We have Him living in our hearts and empowering our lives. May we be ready to share with those God puts in our paths what we have found in Christ. Second, let's notice Philip's wise reply to Nathanael's hesitancy to believe. Not everyone God puts in our paths will be satisfied with our testimony. They need to see for themselves. I don't know if Philip expected Nathaniel's resistance, but what a great response, “Come and see.” We should not be afraid to put the spotlight on Jesus. We may expect the Holy Spirit to make Him known. That's why we invite people to come to our churches or Bible studies. That's why we pray with and for them. We want them to be in His presence—to see for themselves that Jesus lives. I hope this encourages us to be confident to invite unbelievers into a relationship with us. When we live to love with Jesus, we know that if they spend time with us, Jesus will love them through us. If He puts them in our lives, then we, like Philip, may be confident that if they hang out with us, they will see for themselves that Jesus lives. All we have to do is invite them onto our turf, where they can see Jesus' love flowing between the members of His body. That's where Jesus stays. The apostle Paul taught this truth in 2 Corinthians 5:16-17. “Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” Philip could take Nathanael to Jesus in the flesh. We no longer can do that, but Jesus now dwells in a new body. Paul called the body of Christ with many members a new creature. That's how we know Jesus now. So we can also tell the person with objections and hesitancy to “come and see.” Then we lead them into the fellowship of believers so they may see Jesus for themselves. Imagine with me the confidence we would have to tell people to come and see if we knew most of the people in our fellowship were living to love with Jesus. Jesus said that it was His love through us that would convince people that Jesus was sent by God (which is what Messiah or Christ means) and that He lives. John 13:35, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” And in His prayer in John 17:20-21. “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” So let today's verse encourage us to be bold and to invite the doubting and skeptical to “Come and see.” I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

John 1:43-44 The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. Jesus calls everyone to follow Him. Matt. 16:24. “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” And again, John 12:26, “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me.” Let's consider what is implied in Jesus' command, “Follow Me.” First, it implies that Jesus has authority. Not just anyone can, out of the blue, tell someone to follow them and expect obedience. When Jesus said, “Follow Me,” He clearly thought He had the authority to do so. Indeed, as our creator, He does have the right to direct us as He pleases. Jesus is Lord and Master. All authority has been given to Him in heaven and earth. He can not only tell us to follow Him, but He can also tell us to go as He does in the Great Commission. Second, it implies that He has a plan for those who follow Him. If your boss came to you and said, “Follow me,” you know he has something in mind for you to do, and he intends to show you. So when Jesus tells Philip to follow Him, Philip knows Jesus has a plan for his life. Third, it calls for self-denial and surrender of one's own plans and agendas. This is clear when Jesus said in Matt. 16:24. “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” Philip knew Jesus expected him to lay down whatever plans he had for his life and surrender himself to do what Jesus had planned for him. Fourth, the command to follow reveals where the Spirit of God is working. The natural man won't give up his self-life, his own aspirations, his purpose in life and submit to Jesus' beliefs and way of thinking. Only one who believes that Jesus has authority over him would obey the call. Such faith is a work of the Holy Spirit, as Peter noted regarding the first Gentiles who believed. “And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:8-9). So the command to follow reveals where the Holy Spirit is at work. Fifth, in those who hear the call to follow and obey, they have every reason to have a sense of hope and expectation. One doesn't abandon his own will and surrender himself to another without believing the new purpose and plan is better than the present one. Sixth, to be told to follow is an honor. It is a tribute to you if your boss selects you to come with him to fulfill some important task. I again cite John 12:26, “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.” The Father will honor those who serve Jesus and follow Him. So what is Jesus' plan for those who follow Him? Jesus told His followers, “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples” (John 15:8). And what is the fruit we are to carry? The fruit of the life of Jesus Christ—His love. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” That was the plan Jesus had in mind for Philip when He said, “Follow Me.” Jesus' plan for us is the same—to take on His purpose and thinking. He calls us to live to love with Him for the rest of our lives. What an encouragement for all who have heard His call to follow Him. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.