Live to Love Scripture Encouragement

John 4:31-32 Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat.” But He said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." In verses 31-38, John let us in on the conversation he and the rest of the disciples had with Jesus while those from the city were on their way to the well. The disciples had returned from the city with the food they went to purchase (vs. 8). Apparently, they were just ahead of the men whom the woman had told about Jesus. They were concerned that Jesus get sustenance for the rest of the journey. Although it isn't mentioned in the text that Jesus either drank or ate, more than likely, He did. But physical water and food wasn't foremost in Jesus' mind; His relationship with His Father was, and John picked up on that for sure. It's always interesting to me to look at Jesus' words and actions through the lens of His relationship with His Father. We know from John 14:9-10 that Jesus is the revelation of the Father. We know that His worldview is that everything that happens comes from His Father with the purpose of making the Father known. So when the disciples say, “Rabbi, eat.” We are to view Jesus' response with what the Father gave Him. Just like with the woman, Jesus redirected their worldly focus, in this case food, to the spiritual focus of being satisfied in doing the Father's will. We are watching what worshiping the Father in spirit and truth looks like. We are seeing Jesus abide in the Father as He lives to love with His Father. We can be encouraged in our living to love with Jesus by following His example. First, receive everything that happens as from the Father. Second, seek your deepest satisfaction in Jesus' love and doing His will. Third, realize that God's purpose in everything that happens in your life is to reveal the living, Lord Jesus Christ, for the glory of God through the Son. The disciples didn't know of this food at the time of this encounter at the well, but we do know that Jesus' food was to do the Father's will, which we will see in the next two verses. I hope you'll be encouraged in your living to love with Jesus by remembering these three foundational worldview truths that guided His life. He lives in you. He still has the same purpose of revealing the Father, for His glory, in and through your life. If Jesus is your life, and His food is to do the will of the Father, then you also will be sustained and strengthened as you do the will of the Father, which is to make Jesus first place in your life (Col. 1:18). Your purpose is to reveal Jesus as you live to love with Him. No one can take that food away from you. You can live in the fullness of Christ as you think like He thinks and abide in Him for the glory of God. Living to love with Jesus is our true food. 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 5:20 For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel. The Father shows the Son what He is doing because He loves the Son. Let's pause and think about this reality. We ask, “Has this changed?” I don't think so because Jesus said to His disciples in John 14:12-14. “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.” The Father still loves the Son and shows Him what He is doing in our lives, so the Son may glorify the Father in our lives. Now let's think along another line. If the Father loves the Son, and the Son lives in us, then we are also loved by the Father and the Son. If one aspect of God's love is to “show all things that He Himself is doing,” shouldn't we expect God to show Jesus in us what He is doing so we can experience and express His love? The passage in John 14 says we should because He went to the Father, meaning, the Father glorifies the Son by sending the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit comes, both the Father and the Son indwell those who love Jesus and His word (John 14:23). Jesus said, “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.” In other words, we become God's house that has many dwelling places, as Jesus said in 14:2. Now, what are the greater works that the Father will show the Son? At the time that Jesus spoke those words, the greatest work of God had not occurred—the redemptive work on the cross, which came about because of the rejection of the Jewish leaders. The Jews, who were questioning him at the time of this story, were fulfilling the Lord's work. This was prophesied in Psalms 118:22-23. “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” Today, we should marvel that the Lord has accomplished all that was planned that we might become sons of God, loved by the Father, and participants with the Son as He does the mighty works of God in those who love Him. Isn't it marvelous that we have the privilege of living to love with Jesus and doing the works of God with Him? Indeed, how marvelous! How wonderful is the Savior's love for us. Today, we are the living, God-indwelt, body of Christ on the earth. May the Father show us what He is doing so we can accomplish and prove His will, that which is good, acceptable, and perfect. 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 5:19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. This verse reveals a truth about Jesus that is also true about all disciples of Jesus Christ. In essence, Jesus said to the Jews that apart from His Father, He could do nothing. Jesus told His disciples (and all believers by extension) that apart from Him, we could do nothing. This reminds us of what Jesus said in John 14. He told His disciples that He didn't speak on His own initiative, but the Father, abiding in Him, did His works. To see Jesus is to see the Father. This was Jesus' explanation for why He healed the lame man on the Sabbath. He saw the Father at work, so He worked with Him in the same manner. This truth lies at the heart of living to love with Jesus. He abides in us and when we abide in Him, He does the Father's works in and through us for His glory. That's what is meant by “doing nothing.” There's nothing we can do to glorify God apart from Jesus, any more than Jesus could do anything apart from His Father to glorify God. We can do things apart from Jesus, but nothing we do apart from Him glorifies God, the Father. Therefore, we glorify God in the same manner as Jesus glorified God—by abiding in Jesus as Jesus abided in the Father. What does that mean for Jesus to abide in the Father? I use the present tense because He still abides in the Father as He abides in us. He thinks as the Father thinks. He never acts apart from the Father's purpose and worldview. His mind is one with the Father. That gives us great encouragement to be of one mind with Christ. The apostle Paul gave this encouragement to the Philippians in 2:1-5 when admonishing them to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. Can you see it? Just as Jesus had the same purpose and mind as His Father, we are to have the same purpose and mind as Christ. His purpose is to glorify the Father by living to love with Him. Our purpose is to glorify the Father by living to love with Jesus. I have explained Jesus' worldview in chapter 2 of my book, Live to Love: Experience Freedom and Joy in Relationships, which you can find in print, e-book, and audiobook formats at livetolovewithjesus.com. I hope you'll get your free copy soon and share it with others. This is the call of God to all who believe. Christians are those who live in the same manner as Jesus. Abiding in Him as He abides in us. Doing His work as we think and live in a manner worthy of our calling 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 5:18 For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. The Jews understood exactly what Jesus was saying. His Father is God, and He is equal with God. But they didn't believe it. It angered them and fueled their murderous hearts. It was bad enough that He broke the Sabbath, but it was blasphemous to make Himself equal with God. Jesus knew who He is. He is God. Jesus is the only human being of which this is true in the history of the world. He is like no other. The writer of Hebrews described Jesus as “the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature.” However, we are not to think that Jesus is the Father. He is God's only-begotten, or unique, son, as John recorded in John 3:16. Jesus said in Matthew 11:27, “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” This shows clearly that the Father and Son are both God, and yet they are separate beings, working together. For our encouragement today, let's connect some dots, so to speak. Jesus is God, and God is love. Because we have all of God dwelling in us, we have the fullness of God from which His love flows. Living to love with Jesus is how I describe those who have the God of love dwelling inside them. Through the new birth by the Holy Spirit, the presence of Jesus Christ comes to abide in those who love Jesus. Because they love Jesus, the Father also abides in them. Jesus promised this in His last words to His disciples before going to His Father by way of the cross. 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.” Why do the Father, Son, and Spirit live within us? To glorify God by revealing His presence and power as we live to love with Him. We reveal that Jesus lives and that He is both Lord and Christ. What a privilege it is to be His ambassadors of love, His representatives on the earth. May God fill us with His grace today as we walk with Him, abiding in Him, and He 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.

Here we have Jesus' answer to the Jews who were persecuting Him for healing on the Sabbath. John 5:17 But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” Later in John 14:10-11, John recorded very similar words from Jesus explaining His union with His Father and His Father's working. “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.” Jesus lived to work with the Father. If His Father was healing on the Sabbath, then Jesus spoke the words. Did you notice in John 14:10 that when Jesus spoke, the Father worked? That's how the lame man was healed. Jesus spoke, not from His own initiative, but from His Father's, “Get up. Take up your pallet and walk.” Then God did His work and healed the man. Jesus constantly abided in the Father, meaning, He lived for the same purpose the Father did, which was to love for the glory of the Father, and He thought and spoke as the Father thought and spoke. This is the live to love with Jesus encouragement from this verse. We should be able to say the very same thing. We have Jesus abiding in us, and as we abide in Him, meaning, as we live with His purpose and think and say what He says, then Jesus does His works. If Jesus is speaking or working in any given moment, then we receive what He gives us and express His presence and power through our words and actions. We trust He will do the work as we receive and give. That's what it means to live to love with Jesus. Just as Jesus received from the Father and then gave what He received, we receive what the Father gives us through Christ in us and then give what we receive. Another important encouragement from this verse is implied. Jesus lived for the glory of God and not man. Even though Jesus knew He would not receive the glory from men if He healed the man on the Sabbath, He was most satisfied in glorifying His Father by doing His will. This encourages us to not seek the glory of men as we live each day, rather we seek the glory of God, and the way to glorify God is to live to love with Jesus. When Jesus is loving, we are loving. When we are loving, Jesus is loving. We are one with Him 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 5:14-16 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.” The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. For this reason, the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. The lame man probably had not participated in a feast for 38 years. He could not have entered the temple in his condition, but now that he was healed, he headed for the temple to join the celebration. That's where Jesus found him. Let's notice Jesus' love for the man and the man's betrayal of Jesus. Jesus loved the man enough to go looking for him. Jesus found him in the temple, which implies He went looking for him. He had a message for him that provided an opportunity for the man to engage with Jesus regarding his deeper need for healing—the salvation of his soul. The opportunity was provided by telling him his responsibility before God—do not sin anymore. Let's not miss this. He told him to do the impossible from a natural human perspective. The love of God was revealed by Jesus' admonition to not sin anymore. If the Spirit of God was at work, the man would have responded with a confession of sin and a brokenness that comes from an awareness of helplessness. Faith in Jesus can only come when a person realizes they must repent of trusting in themselves. In a real sense, Jesus knocked on his door, to see if the Holy Spirit would answer. This, by the way, is the love of God. The Law is meant to reveal the power of sin and our helpless condition so that we might repent of trusting in ourselves, humble ourselves, and call upon the name of the Lord to be saved. That's how the Law is. It is spiritual (Rom. 7:15) and has the power to reveal whether the flesh or the Spirit is at work. That's the message of Romans 7. Unfortunately for this man, the Spirit was not at work. Instead, this time having learned Jesus' name, he went away to tell the Jews who had healed him and broken the Sabbath. He betrayed Jesus to the Jews. He returned evil for good, which demonstrated an amazing hardness of heart. It was clear that the Father wasn't saving the man at that time. Let's not miss this example of God's love being poured out to His enemies. Jesus healed the man, not because the man was one that the Father had given Him to save, but one the Father had given Him to love. Jesus lived to love with His Father, and the Father loved even if it resulted in suffering. There are times when Jesus avoided these conflicts, but this is one time when He didn't. We will be faced with the same situations. We must abide in Jesus, so we can have the wisdom to know when to draw back and when to engage. Both can be acts of love when guided by the Holy Spirit. Our encouragement today is to love with Jesus, even when doing so may bring suffering and persecution. When we love like that, it is for the glory of God. God is glorified through His Son, as He loves His enemies 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 5:12-13 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk'?” But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. I ask myself how on earth did that man not know who healed him? If I apply the information I have in these verses, I can imagine a scenario where the man never got Jesus' name. There were no words of introduction. The portico around the pool was packed with people because of the feast (5:1). Jesus saw the man and asked if he wanted to be healed. The man gave his excuse for not being able to get to the pool, and then Jesus said, “Get up. Pick up your pallet and walk.” The man got up and started walking, and as soon as the man walked away from Jesus, He slipped away through the crowd. I see the man turn back in amazement to thank Jesus, but He's already gone. Why did Jesus slip away so quickly that the man couldn't even thank Him or get His name? Was that loving? I think the explanation lies in why John told this story. In John 20:31, we learn that these things were written so that those who read it might believe in Jesus and be saved. If we go back to John 3:14-21, we get the introduction to the encounters of the Samaritan woman, the men of Sychar, the royal official and the healing of his son, and now the lame man's healing. 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. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 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. 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. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God. These are examples of God's love for the Gentile world as well as Israel. Each encounter revealed God's judgment, which is shown by their responses. Jesus is the Light. His deeds and words revealed where God was at work to save and to judge. The unbelieving Jews played an important part in Jesus being lifted up, so we would have a savior. The healing on the Sabbath, the willful blindness of the Jews, and the hardness of the healed lame man are necessary to the gospel story and exemplify what John said about Jesus. They show us that God had given all things into Jesus' hand so we might believe in Him. One thing for sure was that Jesus didn't need or want notoriety or glory from man. He wasn't doing these things for a show. So let's be encouraged today as we love with Jesus to make as little of ourselves as possible, and as much as we can of Jesus. That's what Jesus did. He made much of His Father by entrusting what He did to His Father, and made little of Himself. He humbled Himself as a servant of His Father. May we be filled with the humility of Jesus and make much of Him and little of ourselves. 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 5:9-11 Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day. So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.” But he answered them, “He who made me well was the one who said to me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.'” Jesus, knowing the laws of the Sabbath, told the man to pick up his pallet and walk. Upon hearing those words, the man was healed. The miracle itself revealed that God is merciful and has the power to heal. More than likely the man knew the Sabbath laws also, but as soon as his legs were strengthened, he obeyed Jesus. The man concluded that if Jesus could heal him with a word, then He also had authority over the Sabbath. In fact, we see that he used that argument with the Jewish Sabbath police. There is no record that Jesus called him to repent or revealed anything to him about God, other than that God is merciful and speaks with authority. Curing the man after 38 years of suffering was definitely a great kindness. I'm reminded of Romans 2:4. “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” It appears that the man thought lightly of Jesus' kindness. There's no record of gratitude. He didn't even get Jesus' name because Jesus slipped away so quickly. Both are indications of extreme self-centeredness. I draw three encouragements from these verses. The first one is that living to love with Jesus is often expressed in deeds of mercy and kindness rather than through words. Kindness is one expression of love mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23 as the fruit of the Spirit. God can use our kindness to lead people to repentance. It doesn't always happen, but we know from God's word that it is how He works. So let's look for ways to express kindness to all God puts in our paths. Second, as we love people, we do it for the glory of God and not for our own significance. Jesus wasn't trying to be noticed, although, how could He not be? Certainly, this miracle was noticed and talked about all over Jerusalem, and during a feast time, at that, when the city was teeming with worshipers. We don't love so that we will be thought well of or thanked. We love for the glory of God, and leave the results up to Him. Third, as we live to love, God is working out His will on earth as it is in heaven. The fact that it was a Sabbath upon which Jesus healed the man was used by God to further alienate the Jewish leaders from Jesus. It added another reason for them to plot for His murder, which was necessary for the redemption of God's people. Jesus was commanded by God to lay down His life for God's children, and this miracle on the Sabbath was one act of obedience in laying down His life. Sometimes, we are going to be faced with situations where to love or be kind is going to annoy or anger someone who doesn't love us. Our kindness will make them feel guilty because they don't want to love us. In those cases, we can expect them to twist the truth, sabotage our efforts to love, and use it against us. Jesus told his disciples later that if people hate Him, they will hate those who follow Him. But we should not let that discourage us from loving our enemies. We are to love everyone God puts in our paths, even if they don't like it. So let us remember to look for ways to show God's mercy and kindness for the glory of God, and trust Him to accomplish His will on earth as it is in heaven. We love with Jesus, no matter what. 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.

John 5:7-8 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” We have recorded here the sick man's reply to Jesus' question, “Do you wish to get well?” His answer? He wanted to be healed, but someone else always beat him to the pool because of his disability. This shows us that the man didn't think there was any other way to be healed than to be the first one into the pool when it was stirred by the angel of the Lord. That was about to change. I notice that there was no indication that the man believed in Jesus, and as we will see in the following verses, there's no indication that he ever did. In fact, even after being warned by Jesus not to sin, he sided with the Pharisees and ratted on Jesus. So what was the purpose of God in this healing? First, we see God's mercy, even toward His enemies. Matthew 5:43-48 reveals the love of the Father for His enemies. This is a passage in the Sermon on the Mount. You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore, you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. God was merciful to this man who was in desperate need of healing. His suffering had been long-term, and agonizing. This encourages us that we too may show mercy to those who are undeserving as an expression of God's love and as a testimony of His glorious grace. A second purpose for healing the sick man was to fuel the fire of the Pharisees' hatred of Jesus. In John's gospel, he shows the development of this hatred, which increased with every miracle Jesus did, especially when performed on the Sabbath, like this one. This was God's plan according to Acts 4:27-28. “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.” This miracle was necessary in the grand scheme of redemption. A third purpose then behind this miracle is a judgment against the sick man and the Pharisees. You would think the sick man would respond with great gratefulness and allegiance to Christ. In fact, you would think anyone seeing the healing would rejoice and marvel at it. Shouldn't it cause the healed man and the Pharisees to believe in Jesus? No, it does not, which reveals the hardness of heart and animosity toward God. They are judged by the miracle. What can we learn from these verses? If God puts an enemy in our paths or someone who has endured long-term suffering, let's be in tune with how Jesus wants us to love them. We are not to base the expression of love and mercy upon how we think they might respond. God is glorified in the act of mercy, whether there is a positive or grateful response or not. Also, when people do not respond to the love of Christ through us, pray for them. They have been judged by God, and their need for forgiveness and mercy has become obvious. God intends for us to understand their need better, so we might intercede for them more.

John 5:1-6 After these things, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now, there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate, a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, [waiting for the moving of the waters; for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.] A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, "Do you wish to get well?" This seems like a strange question to ask someone who has been afflicted for 38 years, if he wishes to get well. However, there are some significant issues at stake. He has probably made his living by begging, if he is healed, then his means of income will change. He will have to find a job and go to work. If before he was afflicted he had no marketable skills, then if healed, he will have to start at the bottom and work his way up. It is possible that he might have to take a cut in his income if healed. Furthermore, he would have to break into an entirely new social circle. That wouldn't be comfortable or easy. So perhaps the question is relevant after all. In Hebrew, Bethesda, means "house of mercy." Jesus is going to perform an incredible act of mercy for this man. Jesus knew he had been there a long time. He probably had seen him several times before, when He had been in Jerusalem for other feasts. We may assume that Jesus was led by the Father to walk through the Bethesda porticos. Why did He pick this man? He knew the man had been there a long time. John tells us it was because of mercy. D. Martin Lloyd-Jones differentiated grace from mercy. "Grace is especially associated with men in their sins; mercy is especially associated with men in their misery. While grace looks down upon sin as a whole, mercy looks, especially, upon the miserable consequences of sin. Mercy really means a sense of pity, plus a desire to relieve the suffering. That is the essential meaning of being merciful; it is pity plus action." Here's a helpful definition of pity: sympathetic or kindly sorrow evoked by the suffering, distress, or misfortune of another leading one to give relief or aid or to show mercy. As we live to love with Jesus, there will be times when we see the suffering of people and will be led to give relief or aid. Perhaps today, someone like that will cross our paths. Let's not be surprised if Jesus brings them to our attention, and may we not be afraid to engage them in conversation. One of the best ways to engage them is with questions so we can learn how we may express the love and mercy 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 4:51-54 As he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his son was living. So, he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, “Yesterday, at the seventh hour, the fever left him.” So, the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives”; and he himself believed, and his whole household. This is, again, a second sign that Jesus performed when He had come out of Judea into Galilee. On the way home, some of the royal official's slaves met him, to give the good news that his son had survived the illness and was out of the woods, so to speak. Of course, the official was curious about the timing of the turn around. When they told him that it was at 1 p.m., the same time Jesus had said, “Your son lives,” it's not hard to imagine the impact. We don't know what happened on the rest of the journey home, but once he got home and shared what happened, not only did the official believe in Jesus, but so did the whole household—family and slaves. The encouragement these verses have for us today is that when we love one person in Jesus' name, we are probably introducing an entire network to Him. As we love and share Christ with a serviceman who comes to repair an AC unit, the ripple effect may extend to family, friends, and work associates. For example, as I spoke briefly to our waitress at a restaurant and asked how I could pray for her, she immediately told me about her mom who had just been diagnosed with cancer. She also told us she was going to be moving to go to a university in the state. As I'm thinking about her, I realize Jesus could put hundreds of people in her path in the next year, and if God causes the seeds planted to bear fruit, there's no telling what the impact of a few minutes of loving with Jesus can have. Think for a moment about your own network and Jesus' influence in their lives through you. Jesus loves everyone in your life that you love when you live with Him. We ask for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our lives, so the kingdom can advance in this world. That's how our Father works. He touches one life with a view toward glorifying His name in many others. So let's be encouraged by the ripple effect of the love 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 4:49-50 The royal official said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off. The faith expressed by the official satisfied Jesus that His Father was working, and word of Christ satisfied the official. He needed no proof, in direct contrast to those Jesus rebuked for needing signs to believe. This man believed with no sign. He only needed the word of Christ. Let's notice that the faith the man had to return home with no sign or proof of his son's healing was generated by the word of Christ. At this point, there's no indication that the man believed Jesus was Lord or the Christ. He believed his son lived. However, we will discover in the next few verses that the official was on his way to a life-changing faith. Hebrews 12:3 describes Jesus as the author and perfecter of faith. This man fixed his eyes, his hope on Jesus, and when Jesus said the son lives, he took Jesus at His word. That's exactly what Paul said about faith in Romans 10:17. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” As in this case, God often uses storms in life and crises to initiate movement toward His Son. Knowing this encourages us to be alert to those God puts in our paths who are hurting, hungry, thirsty, and in desperate need. To love them well, we point them to Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith. We want to lead them into an encounter with Him that will be life-changing. The best way to lead someone to a life-changing encounter with Jesus is to share with them the word of Christ—the promises of God given to us through His Son. John 14:6 comes to mind. Jesus said that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and that He alone is the way to the Father. John 11:25-26 is another good one. Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” In times of trouble, Hebrews 4:14-16 is one of my favorite. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Do you have some favorite verses in your mind ready to share when God puts someone like this official in your path who is desperately in need of help? I hope you'll collect a few and be prepared to love them with Jesus by sharing His word. You never know how God is working until you give the word of Christ to someone. Paul said the gospel is the power of God for salvation in Romans 1:16. May the Spirit of God prepare us and work through us today 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 4:48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.” This is a very interesting reply by Jesus. The “you-people-see” is a third-person singular form, meaning, Jesus isn't referring to Himself or to the official. He's referring to someone not in the immediate audience. Then Jesus used the second-person plural when He said, “you will not believe”, referring to the official and those associated with him. Jesus' reply is a rebuke that we probably all need to hear and consider. In this verse, we see an example of Jesus' insight regarding man. Jesus knew the hearts of men. 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.” In this case, Jesus exposed what was apparently a common “show me” attitude detected in the official and the Gentiles of Galilee. Here's a somewhat more contemporary version of this. Missouri is called the “Show Me State” primarily due to a statement made by Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver in 1899, emphasizing the need for proof or evidence. He applied it generally to people in Missouri. That's what Jesus did when He said, “Unless you people see signs and wonders.” He rebuked the man with a general comment. Now let's be encouraged not to have this attitude. Have you ever asked God for a sign before you really trusted Him? You know, “God, if you will do this, I will trust You and give my life to You.” or “If you'll have my husband or wife be more loving, I'll love him or her with You.” That's what Jesus picked up in this man's heart. In contrast, our trust in Jesus should be based on His character and His word. He says, “I will never desert you nor will I ever forsake you” (Heb. 13:5). He promised the Holy Spirit would be with us forever (John 14:16). So as we live to love with Jesus, we step out to love people based on His word to be with us. We should not demand that He prove that He is with us before we obey Him. Our obedience to God reveals that we believe in Him. We seek His help for His glory and trust Him to do what is best for us. There are no strings attached before we believe and trust in Him. We will still trust Him even if He doesn't do what we so deeply desire or feel that we need to have from Him. With no intent to rebuke my friends in Missouri, let us not tolerate a “show me” attitude in our hearts toward God. May we step out to love God and others in obedience to His word with a confidence in His presence and His promises to us. He will be faithful to love everyone the Father places in our paths. 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 4:46-47 Therefore He came again to Cana of Galilee, where He had made the water wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and was imploring Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. Let's begin today with a few facts. The journey to Cana from Sychar was about 40 miles, or probably 2–3 days. The royal official was probably a Gentile, an official in Herod Antipas' administration, who was the Tetrarch of Galilee. The distance from Cana to Capernaum was about 20 miles over hill country, a long day's journey by foot. These facts help us keep things in perspective. Nothing is going to happen fast if everything goes at the normal pace. The situation given by the Father to Jesus was dire. The official's son was probably at the point of death before the father left for Cana to meet Jesus, so you can imagine the urgency of the official once they met. Having heard that Jesus was in Cana, he believed Jesus was the boy's only hope of healing. He believed it enough to undertake a 40-mile round trip. Under the circumstances, I think he would have taken the fastest means possible, which would have been horseback. That's simply conjecture. The apostle John didn't give us that information. There are a few encouragements I get from these verses. First, God may allow sickness in order to reveal His glory through His Son. The condition of the official's son was totally in God's hands. For this story to be in the Bible, the son had to be sick to the point of death. In fact, that had to be true of everyone Jesus healed. So, my takeaway is that regardless of how dire the circumstances are, don't panic, the situation is necessary for the glory of God. Since my purpose is to live to love with Jesus for the glory of God, it seems wise and faithful to ask, “How does God want to glorify Himself through His Son in this situation that He has given to Him and to me? Then pray, listen, receive, and release into the situation what I'm given. A second encouragement is that God reveals His will by giving faith where He plans to work. Jesus knew where the Father was working by the attitudes and responses of the people God put in His path. I think of 2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” Where Jesus saw faith at work, He knew His Father was working, so then He worked with His Father. He was living to love with His Father. In this case, the official demonstrated faith. He heard Jesus was in Cana. His son was desperately ill, and there was no other hope. He knew Jesus was a healer and miracle worker. He made the trip to find Jesus to beg Him to come and heal his son because he believed Jesus was capable of healing his son. As we walk with Jesus, there will be times when we face dire circumstances and people with an urgent need. May we be so filled with the Spirit of Christ that we can discern where the Father is working and trust in Him to give us what we need to glorify His name at that time. 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 4:45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast. In light of yesterday's contrast between the Samaritan's receiving Jesus and the Galilean's prior rejection of Him, we learn from today's verse that the Galileans received Him. However, let's notice why. They had attended the feast in Jerusalem and witnessed the same signs Nicodemus had witnessed. They, too, couldn't deny that God was with Him, so they received Him. We're not to think that they believed in Him with saving faith as a result of the signs. We will see in the next chapter that the miracles He performed got Him into more trouble with the Jews, but that didn't stop Him from loving people God put in His path. I realize there may be many of you listening who work in a hostile environment or have family who consider your values and faith toxic. You've found it difficult to navigate those relationships. They receive you into their midst, but they don't like you or what you stand for. You know you aren't just imagining their disgust or disdain for you. You see it on their faces, or notice conversation stops when you come near, or you are the constant butt of jokes and snide remarks. My guess is that Jesus experienced the same and expected it, however, His purpose never changed: He lived to love with His Father. He stayed tuned in to His Father as things happened and people crossed His path. Knowing this about Jesus, encourages us to stay tuned in to Him each day in every situation. We want Jesus to be glorified in us, just like Paul wanted Jesus to be glorified in the believers in Thessalonica. He prayed for them and I pray for you, “To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 1:11-12). Therefore, today, should God lead you into difficult circles, be ready to glorify Jesus by loving with Him those He puts in your paths. 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 4:43-44 After the two days, He went forth from there into Galilee. For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. These verses are meant to show us the contrast between how Jesus was received in Samaria and how He was received in Galilee. He was received in Sychar, a city of Gentiles, as a prophet. Remember what the woman said after Jesus revealed that He knew she had five husbands and was living with a guy? “Sir, I perceive that You are a Prophet.” Jesus performed no miracles in Sychar that we know of, and the people wanted Him to stay. He was honored, and in an honor/shame culture, that's a big deal. They believed Him to be the Savior of the world because of His words. Jesus experienced for a brief time, only two days, the joys of sowing and reaping with His Father. What a blessed and rewarding two days! In contrast, Jesus not only was not honored in Galilee, His own country, but was shamed and cast out. He had lived a perfect life in Galilee for more than 20 years of His life. The manner in which He lived His life, His attitudes, His conduct, His words must have stood out to those who knew Him, but they couldn't see His glory. When He healed a man with a withered hand, preached the good news in the synagogue, and prophesied, they cast Him out of the city and attempted to kill Him by throwing Him off a cliff. In the next verse we will see how He was received, but for today, let's learn a couple of important lessons in walking with Jesus. First, there are good times and difficult times in ministry. We must not determine to whom and where we minister on the basis of hoped for results. We are to be faithful wherever He leads us and receive what He gives us with contentment and gratitude. If God gives us a season of sowing and reaping, we are to receive it with great joy, but be ready to move on in obedience to the leading of the Spirit of God. Second, we must not pre-judge people or assume we know how we are going to be received. We learn from this account, that the ones we think might be most receptive to our love will not be, and the ones we think might be the most resistant may not be. Familiarity may breed contempt, or at least blind people from recognizing that they have one sent from God in their midst. It is not always the case, but it still may happen. One may find a much warmer reception in a foreign field than he finds at home in his own family or church. That's how it was with Jesus, so we should not be surprised. We are to trust the reception of our love and ministry to God and His will. Our responsibility is to be faithful and to trust God for the results. So let this verse encourage us to live to love with Jesus in both good and bad times, content with whatever results or fruit the Lord wills. Let's simply be faithful, enjoy the blessings of loving with Him, and be thankful for the privilege and honor it is to work in God's field 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 4:39-42 From that city, many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all the things that I have done.” So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. Many more believed because of His word; and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.” What a wonderful encouragement and truth is revealed in these verses. We see two kinds of faith. There's the faith that comes from hearing someone's testimony about Jesus. Then there's the faith that comes from hearing Jesus, Himself. In chapters 3 and 4, John gave us examples of this truth. The first kind of faith isn't saving faith. It's a natural faith, like that of Nicodemus, who came because of the signs Jesus did. The signs are undeniable, so Nicodemus believed He was from God. Likewise, these Samaritans believed in Jesus because they couldn't deny the testimony of the woman. Paul wrote of the contrast between hearing someone testify about Jesus and one hearing Jesus, Himself, when he wrote to the Romans in chapter ten, verses 16-17. He pointed out that Isaiah, who had been sent by God as a prophet to testify of the good news of the Messiah, wrote that just hearing about the Messiah isn't enough. Paul wrote, “However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, 'Lord, who has believed our report?'” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” That is John's point in these verses. The faith that comes from hearing the word of Christ by the power of the Spirit is a saving faith. John said, “Many more believed because of His word.” That has been my experience as well. I heard about Jesus from the time I was a little boy. I came to a point at the age of twelve that I could not deny the testimony about Jesus, so I invited Him into my heart. However, there was no change because it wasn't an encounter with Jesus that happened. It was an encounter with others who testified of Him. I based my initial coming on the testimony of others. But, when at the age of 29, I heard the word of Christ as He told me I was full of pride and revealed the sin that He had seen in me, and then spoke peace to my heart as He revealed that He knew me at the cross, a saving faith came. I no longer believed because of what others said about Jesus, I believed because I had an encounter with the living Jesus Christ, and He revealed Himself and gave Himself to me. So, I totally get what these guys were saying to the woman. Do you? This encourages us that we are not responsible to produce saving faith or to get someone to believe in Jesus. That's God's work. We enter into His work, as the disciples did, as we live to love with Jesus, and lead them to an encounter with Him. That's what the woman did. She said, “Come and see.” or “Go see for yourself.” We are encouraged that God is able to produce fruit for His glory through the power of the word of His Son. We can share our testimonies with confidence that Jesus can speak when we speak. We lead them to Jesus, encouraging them to talk with Him because He knows them and loves them.

John 4:37-38 For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. The food the disciples brought was the fruit of someone else's labor. Jesus pointed out that fact, so He wanted them to notice that they were entering or coming into their labor. The same thing was about to happen. Arriving at the same time as the crowd from the city was also arriving, they were coming into the labors of Jesus and the woman. His food, doing the will of His Father, was going to become their food. They would reap where they had not labored. As we live to love with Jesus, we will often enter into the work of others who have gone before us. Jesus has already been working in the hearts of people, and He brings them into our paths. They are ripe for the picking, so to speak. They have heard about Jesus. They are looking for someone to tell them more about Him and how they may be saved. God sends us to harvest the fruit for which we have not labored. We simply enter into it, by the grace and sovereign will of God. What a joy that is when that happens! That's what happened to the disciples that afternoon at the well. More than likely, the disciples baptized them. I get that from 4:1-2. “Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were)…” They now, ever since they began to follow Him, were living to love with Jesus. They lived to enter into His work. That's what we do every day, as we live to love with Jesus. We live to enter into His work. I love the way Paul put it to the Ephesians. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” As we go through our days, we are coming into His work, being brought into them by the Father, and we work through His life dwelling within us. What a joy it is to enter into the work of God. Sometimes we sow or water or reap. Whatever we do, we do it by the grace of God that He gives us. That's how the Father glorifies the Son in our lives. We reap the fruit of His labor as we 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 4:35-36 Do you not say, “There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest”? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. Already, he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. Jesus continued talking about spiritual agriculture. The food He had been eating had already been harvested by the reapers, and He was enjoying the harvest. To bring the spiritual analogy front and center, He probably pointed to the crowd of men walking from the city, through the fields which were still four months from being ready to harvest. Most would have been dressed in white. The fields, indeed, were white for harvest. Jesus had planted the seeds of eternal life in the woman, who then went and planted the same seeds in the men of the city. Now, God had caused the seeds to take root and bear fruit. The time for fruit gathering had arrived, and that's when both the sowers and the reapers rejoice together. This is a great description of the experiences of those living to love with Jesus. As God places people in our paths, Jesus loves them through us. Depending on God's working in the field, we can be both sowers and reapers. Most of the time, I realize I'm planting seeds. Usually, I only have a minute or two with someone who is serving me in a restaurant or place of business. I want to be thoughtful of their time. Since I pray each morning for those whom the Lord is going to put in my path, I can say that I prayed for them, but didn't know who they were going to be. With them standing in front of me, now I know. So I will then say, that when I prayed, God knew it was going to be them. Then I'll say, it must be important to you, that you know today, that God knows you and loves you. Depending on how the Lord has them answer, I'll either plant the seed of knowing God and His love or water seeds that have already been planted. The encouragement today is that it is a joy to both sow and reap. It is God that causes the growth, so there's no pressure to have to make something happen. We simply can go with the flow that the Father has established for our day, as He establishes the steps of His creatures. Let's notice, to have that moment of rejoicing, we must participate in the sowing and reaping. When we live to love with Jesus, we will be used of God for His glory 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 4:33-34 So the disciples were saying to one another, "No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. The disciples' response to Jesus about the food He said He had to eat was so similar to Nicodemus and the woman at the well. They didn't understand and tried to make sense out of what Jesus said from the physical world—normal birth, water, and food. Our first encouragement today might be that when there are things that Jesus says that don't make sense to us, at least we're not the only ones. The truth that we are dealing with is that spiritual things cannot be understood by the natural mind, as Paul explained in 1 Corinthians 2:14: “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.” To live to love with Jesus, we should know that the mindset and thoughts behind living with Jesus are not going to be natural thoughts. They are not going to make sense to us if we are thinking with our culture or even from our own self-centered perspective about life and relationships. Jesus viewed all of his circumstances and relationships through the eyes of His Father. We must view all of our circumstances and relationships through Jesus' eyes. It's the only way we can live with Him. The disciples were still learning this lesson. They were thinking physical food, and Jesus was thinking spiritual food. A second encouragement we can take away from this verse is that if Jesus lives in us and hasn't changed, then His food is still to do the will of the Father. He is still living to love with His Father. The only change is the means by which He's doing it. He accomplishes the Father's work in and through His people. Before His resurrection and the giving of the Holy Spirit, He worked in His one and only physical body. Ever since then, He has a new body in which to work, and today, He's eating the food the Father gives Him as He lives to love in us. So, today, let's eat up! Let's dine and feast with Jesus and the Father as we do His will—love those the Father brings to us 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 4:30 They went out of the city, and were coming to Him. In John 3:35 we read, “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand.” In John 3:27, John the Baptist said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.” In this verse, we should be encouraged of the Father's love for His Son. The Father used the woman's testimony to draw a group of men to Jesus. In the previous two verses, we learned that she went into Sychar and shared with the men. These men came out to see if Jesus was the Christ, as she had said. The point I want to make is that these men were given to Jesus by the Father. He received them from His Father in heaven. When Jesus saw them coming, He experienced the love of His Father because He believed this great foundational truth: There is only one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and He is love. The Father was at work. The same is true in our lives if we are living to love with Jesus. Every person who crosses our paths is being given by our Father to Jesus, who lives in us. The Father is still loving His Son like He did that day at the well. Consider how the scope of His love has expanded since He sent His Son to live in the hearts of His people. As we share the love of Christ, the Father draws millions to His Son. It's happening all over the world simultaneously. Today, the Father will probably give His Son in you, some people to love. As we relate to them, we are entering into the work of the Father and the Son. More than likely, it will first be people with whom we are most familiar, our family members, then probably people at work and in the communities in which we live. This verse encourages us to be alert and ready to love the Father and them with Jesus. Here they come! 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 4:28-29 So the woman left her water pot, and went into the city and said to the men, "Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?" The Samaritan woman came to the well to fill her water pot, but left with her soul filled with living water. Once she had heard that Jesus was the Christ, filling the water pot was irrelevant. She left it. Have we left our water pots? The water pot represented the means by which the woman collected something she thought she needed from the world. She needed water, and the water pot allowed her to have temporary access to what she needed but would never fully satisfy. The pot had to be filled repeatedly. We all have had our water pots. The woman used men like she used water pots. Men can use women in the same way. We have electronic devices which store up information and provide access to temporary satisfaction from the well of the world. We go to the well of the world, download what we think will satisfy our desires, and drink until we need or want more. We use our cars and trucks to carry our groceries which last us for a while, then we have to return for another supply. There's nothing wrong with the water pots. What is important is that we not think that life consists of what the world has to offer us. I've found that only Jesus can cause one to leave his or her water pot. Once our souls are transformed into a water pot containing living water, our earthly water pots can be left. I suggest it's a matter of love. Love for the things of this world can only be overcome by a greater love—the love of God revealed in Christ Jesus. Jesus spoke of this reality in Matthew 6:24. “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” The spirit of idolatry masquerades as love. Anything that takes Jesus' place is an idol, a substitute, an object of love that cannot satisfy. It might taste good and refreshing for the moment, but the power is in the repeated drinking that becomes habitual. Before long, you think you can't live without it, and you're hooked. How you get access to it is your water pot. You love something in this world more than you do Jesus. It's a matter of love for the substance the water pot contains. What's your water pot? What is it filled with? Has it taken the place of Christ in your life? The woman probably never looked at her water pot the same way as she had before. Certainly, when she returned, she filled the pot with water and used it daily. However, every time she came to the well, don't you think she thanked God for the living water she received on that day? The trip back to the well probably became a daily reminder of the new life and love she received from Christ. We live to love with Jesus because we have experienced the fullness of His love. Our souls are satisfied with the living water that never runs dry. We overcome idolatry with a higher and greater love. Being filled with His love, we are able to leave our water pots and go tell the world about the One who alone fills the empty souls of men. We are members of the “Come and See” community. “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?” 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 4:27 At this point His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why do You speak with her?" At this point, the Father determined that the woman had enough information upon which to respond. The conversation ended with the arrival of the disciples. And for a reason that we can only attribute to the work of God's Spirit, the disciples don't question Jesus as to why He spoke with her. That would have hijacked the encounter. The Spirit wanted the woman to be consumed with this giant reality. The Son of God, the Messiah, the Christ spoke to her. We may assume Jesus talked with her again since He stayed in the area for two more days, but those encounters were not recorded. Let's notice God's timing in this story. The Father had Jesus send His disciples into the village to get food. That was necessary for Jesus to have a one-on-one conversation with the Samaritan woman. For that conversation to happen, the Father, whether through decreed or passive power, directed the woman's steps at just the right time to go get water. Had either of those two things happened differently, either Jesus and the woman would have missed each other, or the disciples would have been in the way. Their return was perfect timing. Jesus had just given the woman all she needed for God to draw a crowd from the village to His Son. “I who speak to you am He.” The Father and the Son show the disciples that the kingdom of God and eternal life is to cross over racial, ethnic, and social barriers. We have in this story the fulfillment of Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus where He told him that the Spirit was going to blow to the Gentile world and give new birth. God loves the Gentile world as He loves the Jews as mentioned in John 3:16. This encourages us to take the gospel to the nations, to everyone God puts in our paths. Another encouragement I draw from this verse is how we may trust in God's sovereign and perfect administration of our lives. John wanted his readers to see the wisdom and love revealed in the Father as He administrated every aspect of this story. Like Jesus, we can trust that God establishes our steps every day and the steps of everyone we meet. They are not random, chance encounters. God has been in control of ten thousands things in everyone's lives for His children to cross paths with someone who needs living water and needs to know that Jesus is the savior of the world, the Christ. God writes our stories like He wrote this one. With that confidence and encouragement from this verse, I hope you'll join me in praying what I call the Live to Love prayer. “Father, thank You for another day of life to know and love You and to live to love with Jesus. Anoint and fill me with the Holy Spirit, the presence and power of Christ, so that I can love and trust You, and love those You put in my path today, for Your glory. Amen.” I invite you to make that prayer a part of your daily devotion to God. Please go to the website and take the Live to Love prayer challenge to pray it each morning for two months. I hope also that you'll 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 4:25-26 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.” How do you think the woman at the well understood what Jesus said about God? This verse reveals that she didn't understand it at all. She again changed the subject, but at least hovered around the salvation issue. She at least knew that God was going to send the Messiah, and that when He came, He would declare all things. I'm not sure what the woman understood what “all things” the Messiah would declare, but Jesus had already declared some amazing things. He had declared that He could give her living water that springs up to eternal life. He had declared that He knew about her life—remember, He knew of her 5 husbands and that she was living with a guy. He had explained the characteristics of true worship and that God is spirit. We find in this verse the greatest declaration of everything He had said to the woman. “I who speak to you am He.” He is the Christ, the Messiah, the One for whom she, her people, and all of Israel were waiting. Here is today's encouragement for us. The good news for her is also good news for us if we too are in need of salvation, which of course, we are! Everyone needs a savior. Everyone needs eternal life. Everyone needs a never-ending spring of living water gushing forth from within. God had placed this woman in the path of the Christ, whom she so badly needed. If we have become believers and disciples of Christ, then we know what amazing, overwhelming joy, and gratitude this woman experienced. These verses remind us of our first love for Christ that arose when we realized who Jesus was and what He has done for us. It confirms our faith in Him, and should assure us that we have not trusted in Jesus in vain. We believe Jesus is who He said He is. He is the Christ, our savior, and source of living water that springs up to eternal life. I hope you'll pause, remember your first love for Jesus, and if you've drifted away from it or have taken it for granted, return to your first love for Jesus. Be amazed at who He is and that you have His life in you. Worship God in spirit and truth. Drink deeply and satisfyingly from His presence so that you can live to love for His glory 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 4:23-24 But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. Do you think it is encouraging to know who the Father is seeking to be His worshipers? Psalms 53:2 puts this in God's perspective. “God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there is anyone who understands, who seeks after God. Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” So question: Why is God seeking worshipers who worship Him in spirit and truth if there are none? Answer: Because only the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit, can create such a worshiper. Apart from the gracious work of Jesus, there would be no true worshipers. That's why Jesus said, “But an hour is coming, and now is.” We can be encouraged from this story about the woman at the well that Jesus creates worshipers with whom the Father is well-pleased. Do you remember that Jesus told His disciples that apart from Him, they could do nothing to please the Father (John 15:5-8)? Let's notice how Jesus made this woman into a worshiper in God. He told her some things about herself that reveals that she has always been in the presence of God. He sees and knows her because God is spirit. Jesus is God. Although He is in a material body, He is one with the Father, who is spirit. To say that God is spirit is to contrast the woman's idea that God can only be worshiped in one place. The author of Hebrews wrote of the spiritual nature of God when he wrote in Heb. 4:13, “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” To say God is spirit is to say that we can't get away from His all-seeing eye. Because God is spirit, He is always present in His creation and working His will. What He is doing is the truth. What He sees happen is the truth because He's ultimately the great, first cause of all that happens in His creation. Furthermore, and to the point of this encounter, the Father glorifies Himself through His Son. He does His work through His Son. Do you remember how I defined truth? Truth is what Jesus does, says, and sees. 1 Corinthians 8:6 expresses these concepts perfectly. “Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.” Do you get it? To worship God in spirit and truth can only happen if Jesus creates such worshipers. That's what He came to do! He came to bring us to God, and that's exactly what He was doing with the woman at the well. One can't be a true worshiper without believing 1 Corinthians 8:6. That's the only kind of worshiper the Father seeks and the Son creates. This kind of worshiper glorifies God because he knows his worship is God-wrought and that everything he does is in His presence for His glory. I suggest that glorifying God is the ultimate reason behind living to love with Jesus. He loves His Father and loves people, and that is His worship of the Father at work in all who believe. Their faith in God, who is spirit and truth, is the first work of grace that makes them the kind of worshiper the Father seeks—one who worships in spirit and truth. Believing that God is spirit is the foundation of living to love with Jesus. Is that your foundation? 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 4:23 But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. Jesus told her that the time had come for true worshipers to worship the Father in spirit and truth. The term true worshipers created a contrast between true and false worshipers. False worshipers focus on the physical realm, tradition, and appearances. The woman had spoken of this kind of worshiper when she said, “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus didn't suggest that those who worshiped God in Jerusalem were true worshipers in contrast to the Samaritans. Jesus' coming changed everything when it came to worship. First, let's notice the worship is not of Jehovah, the covenant keeper. The worship is of the Father. Jesus came to reveal that the covenant-keeping God is primarily a father. Three times Jesus calls God, the Father. Everyone in the world needs the Father. Jesus came to show us the love of His Father by bringing us to Him through His substitutionary death and His righteousness given. The new time that came with Jesus and now is, is a new worship of the Father. Second, the new worship isn't a matter of where, but of how. Two characteristics of this new worship are mentioned. The first is that it is in spirit as opposed to in the physical realm, which broadens the scope of where this worship takes place. Before, worshipers had to physically come to the temple in Jerusalem. Now, since worship is in spirit, anyone, anyplace, at any time may worship the Father. For the Samaritan woman it meant that she could worship the Father at any moment there at the well. For us, it means we have 24/7/365 access to the Father's Holy of Holies, so our entire lives become our service of worship as Paul wrote in Romans 12:1. “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” Third, the second characteristic of the new worship is truth. Jesus is the truth (John 14:6). Truth is therefore what Jesus does, says, and sees. Whatever He does in us is worship of the Father. When we do what Jesus says, believe what He believes, let His words abide in us, we bear much fruit, proving that we are His worshipers (John 15:8-9). We are worshiping with Jesus as we live to love with Him. If He's loving through us, that is worshiping in spirit and truth. That's what God sees, and it is pleasing in His sight. The time has come and now is for true worship of the Father—worship that is in spirit and truth. Living to love with Jesus is how we present our bodies, a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to the Father. As we renew our minds with His purpose—to glorify God by living to love with Him, His worldview—there's only one God from whom all things come whose love is enough to satisfy our souls so we can reveal Christ in this world, and truth—what Jesus does and says is revealed in us, we prove that God's will is that Jesus be first place in all things—in our thinking, in our living, and in our worship. 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 4:22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. The issue with everyone we meet is salvation, not what denomination they belong to or what eschatology they espouse or their ethnicity. Jesus' reference to salvation being from the Jews is the same as saying that the Messiah or Savior is from the Jews. Simeon in Luke 2:29-30, John the Baptist in Luke 3:6 both used the term salvation to refer to Jesus as the Savior and Messiah. When Simeon saw Jesus, he declared, “For my eyes have seen Your salvation.” In effect, He made it clear that what they believed was wrong and that the Jews were right. Since the Savior comes from Israel, then the Jews were worshiping according to the truth. Putting that debate to rest, Jesus got to the ultimate need of this woman. She needed salvation from her sins and ignorance about the savior. Salvation can only come by the knowledge of God, revealed in Jesus Christ through the work of the Spirit of God. May we be encouraged today to remember that is every person's need. If God puts them in our path, then we know they need to be saved if they are not already. We know the one we worship, Jesus Christ, is the Savior, and if they do not worship Jesus, then they need to know Him. The first thing we can do to show them that Jesus lives is to love them with Him by caring for them, being kind, and praying for them. I've learned to engage them by asking about them, listening to see how the Lord has them respond, then respond to them with what the Holy Spirit gives me. I'm learning to trust that He's already ahead of me, knows them perfectly, and will give me what they need for that moment. We worship what we know if we are born again. We have His life dwelling within us, and know that He is not only our Savior, but the well-spring of eternal life. We have the Son, so we know we have the life of God. May we live out of His fullness today and be ready to love those He puts in our paths, for His 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 4:21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.” After Jesus had revealed that He knew she had been married five times and was living with another man, the woman surmised that Jesus was a prophet and posed the debate between the Samaritans and the Jews as to where God was to be worshiped. It's interesting that Jesus didn't comment on either. He didn't let her distract Him or hijack the conversation. However, He took her response as the Father's prompting as to where to take the conversation. Remember, Jesus is living to love with His Father. He received this woman's presence as the Father's will. He also received her response as from the Father. He knew Proverbs 16:1. “The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.” So Jesus had clear direction from her response in the way to direct the conversation—in the direction of true worship of the Father. I am learning the same lesson from Jesus as I live to love with Him. As I meet people, I know God has put them there. He has given them to Jesus in me, who will love them. To love with Jesus, I must abide in Him, which means to think like Jesus thinks. I am renewing my mind. I know Jesus believes there is only one God, His Father, from whom are all things. He knows His Father is always working, and He trusts in Him. He is satisfied in His Father's love and loves to do His will. He believes therefore that the Father has a purpose in everything that happens, namely, to reveal Himself, His presence and power. To live to love with Jesus, we must believe and apply what Jesus believes and lives by. It's His worldview. As I meet people, I listen to what the Father has them say, as Jesus did with this woman. Then I listen for Jesus' response. The Holy Spirit gives us the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:10-14) so we reveal that Jesus lives and is present to love. When I do this, I've experienced the Holy Spirit's guidance to Scriptures that are helpful or encouraging to the individual. Sometimes, I've received His compassion or sympathy if the person is suffering. When nothing comes in response, then I'm at peace to say nothing or confess what I don't know. I want to encourage you that we can learn much from this verse if we understand what's going on between the Father and the Son. To see Jesus is to see the Father (John 14:9-11). As we read this passage, we are watching the Father guide His Son to love this woman. Jesus took her words, and responded to them. He knew His purpose was to glorify the Father by revealing the truth: what God is doing, seeing, and saying. We can see from the beginning of the engagement with the woman where Jesus was going—to the Father as the source of eternal life—true worship. As we live to love with Jesus, we are displaying that very truth. The Father glorifies Himself through His Son as the source of all life. There is one God, from whom are all things. He is the true source of life. May the Holy Spirit open our hearts to understand how to abide in Jesus and 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 4:19-20 The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." Jesus had just said to her, "Go, call your husband and come here.” The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have correctly said, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.” Have you ever been in such a conversation with God? Perhaps you were reading a passage of Scripture and became convicted, but instead of responding to God, you read on, or you turned to another more encouraging passage. You knew if you really dealt with the truth, what God sees about you, then you knew you would have to change—but you didn't want to change. If so, then you understand the awkwardness of this moment between Jesus and the woman at the well. Both are asking, “Where do I go from here?” The woman didn't want to discuss her past with its shame, and who can blame her? So she moved the spotlight to Jesus and where God is to be worshiped. We are encouraged by these verses not to be like this woman as we live to love with Jesus. God is going to deal with our past. Because He loves us, He is committed to sanctifying us. There were times in our past when we didn't know God or trust in Him. Therefore, we didn't receive the grace needed to handle the situation, resulting in our carrying the baggage and shame of our unbelief. More than likely when similar events occur, we are triggered by them. They remind us of previous hurts, disappointments, and failures. Jesus must sanctify those events in our lives for our lives to bring Him glory. He must take us where we don't want to go. He must reveal our unbelief and bring us to the point where we can see who He is and how we should have worshiped Him in those moments. When we face the truth that we didn't know Him, trust Him, or go to Him for grace, then we are set free from the baggage, are healed, and can see how God can use it for His glory and our good. We are able to help others, which is what living to love with Jesus is all about. So the next time you find yourself in a convicting conversation with Jesus or facing an uncomfortable truth about yourself, don't change the subject, but let the truth search you and sanctify you for His glory and your good. 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 4:16-18 He said to her, "Go, call your husband and come here.” The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have correctly said, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly." At first glance, it appears that Jesus was shaming the woman. If He knew she had five husbands before telling her to call her husband, then why did He do it? In an honor/shame culture, this would have been extremely embarrassing and shameful for the woman to admit. However, if we dive in a little deeper, perhaps we can see the love behind Jesus' exposure. Let's remember that love seeks the highest good of someone, no matter what the cost, in the power of the Holy Spirit, for the glory of God. Love was revealed in three ways. First, giving the woman an opportunity to speak the truth, to agree with what God sees, is in her highest good. Second, security and safety is revealed when someone knows the shameful truth about another, yet still leans into the relationship. Usually, when darkness is exposed, people reject and run away. Jesus knew the pain and the cause of the pain in her life, and she would have been drawn to His compassion and mercy displayed to her. Third, the stage is set for this woman to despise the shame, that is make light of it, press through it to find this living water that Jesus offered. If one is ever to find satisfaction in Christ, he or she must despise the shame that the truth reveals, embrace it, and put themselves completely at the disposal of Jesus. In so doing, forgiveness, healing, restoration, and a new life may be experienced—in a sense, resurrection after death. That's how Jesus overcame sin, death, the world, and the devil. He despised the shame of our shameful sins, endured the cross, and was raised to sit down at the right hand of the Father. He surrendered all to His Father, and was raised so that He could become a well of eternal life to all who will despise their shame and surrender to Him. That describes God's love for us and our love for Him. The highest good of another person is not to tolerate or avoid the shame of sin, but to help them embrace it by speaking the truth, showing them that their sin and shame won't drive you away, and then lean into the relationship with acceptance and love. God used Jesus' love to draw this woman to His Son. You may have the opportunity today to love someone like that, hopefully with the same result. These verses encourage us in how to love like 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 4:15 The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw." The idea of never thirsting and not having to make the long walk to the well or carry the heavy load of water each day must have been extremely appealing. But Jesus wasn't offering the woman an easier, more convenient life. That's not what He meant by the offer of living water, but that's the natural desire of almost everyone. As we share with others the call of the gospel, we want to be sure that we are not appealing to this natural desire for a happy, convenient life. Telling people to follow Jesus because He promises to make them happy is false advertising. It's misleading. They will have to give up their pursuit of happiness in terms of this world. Most people love their lives in this world. They are looking for anything that will make their lives better. Here in the U.S., the pursuit of the American Dream and personal peace and affluence isn't questioned. We think personal happiness in this world is a constitutional right. It is assumed to be an honorable purpose in life. I can't count how many times I've heard people say, “God wants you to be happy”, which is true, but in the same way Jesus offered the woman living water. Happiness or living water isn't to be understood in a natural, material way. Let's be reminded from this verse that our pursuit of happiness isn't temporal. What God offers us is fullness of joy that comes from loving in the power of the Holy Spirit. His joy comes as we drink from His well of living water. Allow me to change the imagery, to the vine and branch analogy. Jesus, the vine, gives His life to us, the branches. The vine offers an eternal supply of fruit-producing sap to us. As Jesus' life pours through us, we display His love, fruit for both the Father and a hungry world to enjoy. As we live to love with Jesus, we experience His joy which is a source of happiness that is out of this world. As I wrap up today's live to love encouragement, let's listen to Jesus' words about this. 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. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 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. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. The happiness Jesus offers and that we have to offer isn't the offer of an easier, more convenient life, but the offer of an eternal supply of life-giving, joy-producing, soul-satisfying fruitfulness to be experienced in this life and forever. Hallelujah! For this one cries to Jesus, “Sir, give me this water!” As for us, we say, “Father, thank You for giving us this living water through Your son, Jesus Christ. We are blessed in abundance by Your generosity and amazing grace.” 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 4:13-14 Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 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." Everything in the natural physical world has limitations. Let's think about what Jesus said. The one who drinks of the water from Jacob's well will thirst again, not because there's something wrong with the water. The physical body needs water to survive. We have to drink daily. In contrast, the spiritual man also has thirst, but the water Jesus offers not only satisfies the thirst, but the living water becomes a well of more water producing eternal life. Our encouragement today is that as God's children, we have a never-ending, all-satisfying, eternal life-producing fountain dwelling in our souls. As we will learn, it is spiritual. In any circumstance or relationship, we may drink from the life of Christ, and He will fill us with what we need to express His life in this world. As we read this account, we see how living water was pouring forth from Him to the Samaritan woman. Although He was physically thirsty, He ministered to her out of fullness. Such is the life we have as we live to love with Jesus. We may have many people cross our paths today who are like the woman from Samaria. They are thirsting for eternal life, but don't know it. May the love we show them prepare the way for conversations about living water that springs up to eternal life. May we live out of the fullness of Jesus' life. You begin with a statement of faith. “Jesus, You are my life. You are the source of everything I need today.” Then follow with a request of faith. “Lord, make me a spring of living water to those around me. Pour out Your love to everyone who crosses my path today.” We close with gratitude. “Thank You for giving me eternal life. 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 4:11-12 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.