Psalm and Prayer

Welcome to Psalm and Prayer, a daily scripture podcast to start your day. If you enjoyed today's show, share it with a friend or two! Or all your Facebook and Twitter friends! Make sure to subscribe to be updated when new episodes are available! Email: psalmnadprayer@gmail.com

Thank you for listening. To help support this podcast, subscribe to Psalm and Prayer on Patreon Patreon.com/PsalmAndPrayer   Welcome to Psalm and Prayer, a daily scripture podcast to start your day. If you enjoyed today's show, share it with a friend or two! Or all your Facebook and Twitter friends! Make sure to subscribe to be updated when new episodes are available!   Email: psalmnadprayer@gmail.com  

Thank you for listening. To help support this podcast, subscribe to Psalm and Prayer on Patreon Patreon.com/PsalmAndPrayer Welcome to Psalm and Prayer, a daily scripture podcast to start your day. If you enjoyed today's show, share it with a friend or two! Or all your Facebook and Twitter friends! Make sure to subscribe to be updated when new episodes are available! Email: psalmnadprayer@gmail.com

Welcome to Psalm and Prayer, a daily scripture podcast to start your day. If you enjoyed today's show, share it with a friend or two! Or all your Facebook and Twitter friends! Make sure to subscribe to be updated when new episodes are available!

Welcome to Psalm and Prayer, a daily verse podcast to start your day. Join me, Chris Mann as I look at a bible verse and guide you in a prayer.   During a very difficult time in my life, I began reading a psalm everyday. I spent my life savings to open a business, then lost the business and faced a very large lawsuit. I was penniless and looking for a place to sleep. During this time, God provided everything I needed. Now I want to share with you the same encouragement I received during that difficult time.   If you enjoyed today's show, share it with a friend or two! Or all your Facebook and Twitter friends! Make sure to subscribe to be updated when new episodes are available!   Email: psalmnadprayer@gmail.com   Subscribe to the Psalm and Prayer podcast on itunes and Google Play.  

Welcome to Psalm and Prayer, a daily verse podcast to start your day. Join me, Chris Mann as I look at a bible verse and guide you in a prayer.   During a very difficult time in my life, I began reading a psalm everyday. I spent my life savings to open a business, then lost the business and faced a very large lawsuit. I was penniless and looking for a place to sleep. During this time, God provided everything I needed. Now I want to share with you the same encouragement I received during that difficult time.   If you enjoyed today's show, share it with a friend or two! Or all your Facebook and Twitter friends! Make sure to subscribe to be updated when new episodes are available!   Email: psalmnadprayer@gmail.com   Subscribe to the Psalm and Prayer podcast on itunes and Google Play.  

Welcome to Psalm and Prayer, a daily verse podcast to start your day. Join me, Chris Mann as I look at a bible verse and guide you in a prayer.   During a very difficult time in my life, I began reading a psalm everyday. I spent my life savings to open a business, then lost the business and faced a very large lawsuit. I was penniless and looking for a place to sleep. During this time, God provided everything I needed. Now I want to share with you the same encouragement I received during that difficult time.   If you enjoyed today's show, share it with a friend or two! Or all your Facebook and Twitter friends! Make sure to subscribe to be updated when new episodes are available!   Email: psalmnadprayer@gmail.com   Subscribe to the Psalm and Prayer podcast on itunes and Google Play.  

Welcome to Psalm and Prayer, a daily verse to start your day. Join me, Chris Mann as I look at a bible verse and guide you in a prayer.   During a very difficult time in my life, I began reading a psalm everyday. I spent my life savings to open a business, then lost the business and faced a very large lawsuit. I was penniless and looking for a place to sleep. During this time, God provided everything I needed. Now I want to share with you the same encouragement I received during that difficult time.   If you enjoyed today's show, share it with a friend or two! Or all your Facebook and Twitter friends! Make sure to subscribe to be updated when new episodes are available!   Email: psalmnadprayer@gmail.com  

Welcome to Psalm and Prayer, a daily verse to start your day. Join me, Chris Mann as I look at a bible verse and guide you in a prayer.   During a very difficult time in my life, I began reading a psalm everyday. I spent my life savings to open a business, then lost the business and faced a very large lawsuit. I was penniless and looking for a place to sleep. During this time, God provided everything I needed. Now I want to share with you the same encouragement I received during that difficult time.   If you enjoyed today's show, share it with a friend or two! Or all your Facebook and Twitter friends! Make sure to subscribe to be updated when new episodes are available!   Email: psalmnadprayer@gmail.com  

Welcome to Psalm and Prayer, a daily verse to start your day. Join me, Chris Mann as I look at a bible verse and guide you in a prayer.   During a very difficult time in my life, I began reading a psalm everyday. I spent my life savings to open a business, then lost the business and faced a very large lawsuit. I was penniless and looking for a place to sleep. During this time, God provided everything I needed. Now I want to share with you the same encouragement I received during that difficult time.   If you enjoyed today's show, share it with a friend or two! Or all your Facebook and Twitter friends! Make sure to subscribe to be updated when new episodes are available!   Email: psalmnadprayer@gmail.com  

  Welcome to Psalm and Prayer, a daily verse podcast to start your day. Join me, Chris Mann as I look at a bible verse and guide you in a prayer.   During a very difficult time in my life, I began reading a psalm everyday. I spent my life savings to open a business, then lost the business and faced a very large lawsuit. I was penniless and looking for a place to sleep. During this time, God provided everything I needed. Now I want to share with you the same encouragement I received during that difficult time.   If you enjoyed today's show, share it with a friend or two! Or all your Facebook and Twitter friends! Make sure to subscribe to be updated when new episodes are available!   Email: psalmnadprayer@gmail.com   Subscribe to the Psalm and Prayer podcast on itunes and Google Play.  

Those who know your name trust in you,     for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. 4     In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid.     What can mere mortals do to me?  

Putting Trust In God - Psalm and Prayer - Daily Devotion 2/6/19

Welcome to Psalm and Prayer, a daily verse to start your day. Join me, Chris Mann as I look at a bible verse and guide you in a prayer.   During a very difficult time in my life, I began reading a psalm everyday. I spent my life savings to open a business, then lost the business and faced a very large lawsuit. I was penniless and looking for a place to sleep. During this time, God provided everything I needed. Now I want to share with you the same encouragement I received during that difficult time.   If you enjoyed today's show, share it with a friend or two! Or all your Facebook and Twitter friends! Make sure to subscribe to be updated when new episodes are available!   Email: psalmnadprayer@gmail.com  

Welcome to Psalm and Prayer, a daily verse to start your day. Join me, Chris Mann as I look at a bible verse and guide you in a prayer.   During a very difficult time in my life, I began reading a psalm everyday. I spent my life savings to open a business, then lost the business and faced a very large lawsuit. I was penniless and looking for a place to sleep. During this time, God provided everything I needed. Now I want to share with you the same encouragement I received during that difficult time.   If you enjoyed today's show, share it with a friend or two! Or all your Facebook and Twitter friends! Make sure to subscribe to be updated when new episodes are available!   Email: psalmnadprayer@gmail.com  

Welcome to Psalm and Prayer, a daily verse to start your day. Join me, Chris Mann as I look at a bible verse and guide you in a prayer.   During a very difficult time in my life, I began reading a psalm everyday. I spent my life savings to open a business, then lost the business and faced a very large lawsuit. I was penniless and looking for a place to sleep. During this time, God provided everything I needed. Now I want to share with you the same encouragement I received during that difficult time.   If you enjoyed today's show, share it with a friend or two! Or all your Facebook and Twitter friends! Make sure to subscribe to be updated when new episodes are available!   Email: psalmnadprayer@gmail.com  

Welcome to Psalm and Prayer, a daily verse to start your day. Join me, Chris Mann as I look at a bible verse and guide you in a prayer.   During a very difficult time in my life, I began reading a psalm everyday. I spent my life savings to open a business, then lost the business and faced a very large lawsuit. I was penniless and looking for a place to sleep. During this time, God provided everything I needed. Now I want to share with you the same encouragement I received during that difficult time.   If you enjoyed today's show, share it with a friend or two! Or all your Facebook and Twitter friends! Make sure to subscribe to be updated when new episodes are available!   Email: psalmnadprayer@gmail.com  

Welcome to Psalm and Prayer, a daily verse to start your day. Join me, Chris Mann as I look at a bible verse and guide you in a prayer.   During a very difficult time in my life, I began reading a psalm everyday. I spent my life savings to open a business, then lost the business and faced a very large lawsuit. I was penniless and looking for a place to sleep. During this time, God provided everything I needed. Now I want to share with you the same encouragement I received during that difficult time.   If you enjoyed today's show, share it with a friend or two! Or all your Facebook and Twitter friends! Make sure to subscribe to be updated when new episodes are available!   Email: psalmnadprayer@gmail.com  

Welcome to Psalm and Prayer, a daily verse to start your day. Join me, Chris Mann as I look at a bible verse and guide you in a prayer.   During a very difficult time in my life, I began reading a psalm everyday. I spent my life savings to open a business, then lost the business and faced a very large lawsuit. I was penniless and looking for a place to sleep. During this time, God provided everything I needed. Now I want to share with you the same encouragement I received during that difficult time.   If you enjoyed today's show, share it with a friend or two! Or all your Facebook and Twitter friends! Make sure to subscribe to be updated when new episodes are available!   Email: psalmnadprayer@gmail.com  

Welcome to Psalm and Prayer, a daily verse to start your day. Join me, Chris Mann as I look at a bible verse and guide you in a prayer.   During a very difficult time in my life, I began reading a psalm everyday. I spent my life savings to open a business, then lost the business and faced a very large lawsuit. I was penniless and looking for a place to sleep. During this time, God provided everything I needed. Now I want to share with you the same encouragement I received during that difficult time.   If you enjoyed today's show, share it with a friend or two! Or all your Facebook and Twitter friends! Make sure to subscribe to be updated when new episodes are available!   Email: psalmnadprayer@gmail.com  

Feeling the pressure

TOPIC OUTLINE Intro Define Mocking Bible Commentary and Questions John 19:1-6 Nehemiah Chapter 4 Additional reading/ Questions   THE THEORY Have you ever been mocked? How did that make you feel. That’s the feeling Jesus was experiencing in this passage. THE CONTEXT To see an example of someone being mocked, let’s read Nehemiah chapter 4. Despite all of his attacks, Nehemiah was still able to finish what he set out to do. THE ACTION For another example of people pushing beyond the ridicule, read 2 Chronicles chapter 30. What have you done when facing mocking and ridicule?  

I will sing of loving kindness and justice.     To you, Yahweh, I will sing praises. 2 I will be careful to live a blameless life.     When will you come to me?     I will walk within my house with a blameless heart. 3 I will set no vile thing before my eyes.     I hate the deeds of faithless men.     They will not cling to me. 4 A perverse heart will be far from me.     I will have nothing to do with evil. 5 I will silence whoever secretly slanders his neighbor.     I won’t tolerate one who is haughty and conceited. 6 My eyes will be on the faithful of the land,     that they may dwell with me. He who walks in a perfect way,     he will serve me. 7 He who practices deceit won’t dwell within my house.     He who speaks falsehood won’t be established before my eyes. 8 Morning by morning, I will destroy all the wicked of the land;     to cut off all the workers of iniquity from Yahweh’s city. World English Bible (WEB)

22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. 25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”  

17 At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”18 They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.” 19 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’?20 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. Cross-Reference Verses 20 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. Luke 23:27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. John 20:20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” 16 Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”

7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

Everything Jesus has told you was so you will not slip away. People will do bad things to you because they don’t know God. Jesus gave you a warning that you will be mistreated. “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, 5 but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. Remember the teachings of Christ and hold on tight to them. Those around you torment you because they don’t know the love of Jesus. Don’t forget what the future holds.

7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” Jesus the Way to the Father 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Podcast Episode 146 - John Chapter 13:31-38 31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him.  32 If God is glorified in him,God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.  33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.  34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”  37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”  38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

Podcast Episode 145 - John Chapter 13:21-30 21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”  22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant.  23 One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him.  24Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”  25 Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.  27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.”  28 But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him.  29 Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor.  30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

Podcast Episode 144 -  John Chapter 13:10-20 10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”  11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.  12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them.  13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.  14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. 18 “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turnedagainst me.’  19 “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am.  20 Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”

  Podcast Episode 143 - John Chapter 13:1-10 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” 9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” 10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”

Podcast Episode 142 - John 12:44-50 Recorded 11/23/2018 44 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. 47 “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. 49 For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them. Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message     and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:  “He has blinded their eyes     and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes,     nor understand with their hearts,     nor turn—and I would heal them.”  Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.  Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him.But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue;  for they loved human praise more than praise from God.

Podcast Episode 140 - John 12:25-33 Recorded 11/22/2018

Podcast Episode 139 - John 12:17-24 Recorded 11/21/2018 Why did Jesus Have to Die? And why did he die the way that he did? Could he have lived to 100 and passed away in sleep?

Podcast Episode #138   welcome to psalm and Prayer. I'm your host Chris Mann. Broadcasting live in Blog talk radio and Twitter. Thank you for joining me today.   Today we’re looking at   John chapter 12 verses 9-16   We’re going to see many people coming to Jesus Because of Lazarus,   And we’ll see the first palm Sunday.  

welcome to psalm and Prayer. I'm your host Chris Mann. Thank you for joining me today. Today we're looking at John chapter 12 verses 1 through 8. We're going to see more of Jesus' relationship with Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Jesus will be anointed with perfume. One of His disciples will object to the anointing. To be anointed means to be rubbed or smeared with oil.   If you wish to download this episode, You can do so on itunes and google play.  

Today we’re looking at John chapter 11. This chapter is very memorable because we see Jesus bring a dead man back to life. I don’t mean a re-animated corpse moving around like a zombie, but actually back to life.   This chapter has some pretty good lessons in it: Having full faith in Jesus, praising The Lord no matter what, and the importance of patience! When Jesus got word that his good friend was sick, he didn’t just rush over to his friend’s bedside and heal him. There’s no glory in that! No, Jesus had something even more special planned. He has little miracles planned out for all of us. We just need to wait for everything to fall into place to receive them.   This chapter is broken into four parts:   Lazarus becomes sick and dies. Jesus comforts Mary and Martha. Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. Religious leaders plot to kill Jesus.  

Wow, what an awesome chapter. In John chapter 10, Jesus explains to us His real mission. He's not just here for Isreal, but for all mankind. Everywhere! That includes you and me.  We'll learn that Jesus is the only path to Heaven. We'll also learn that Jesus is our good shepard, watching over us while we stumble around earth.  Last week we looked at John Chapter 9. Jesus healed a blind man. We learned that without Jesus We become blind in faith.   Today, We’re looking at John chapter 10. Jesus explains how we are like sheep, How we can get to heaven, And that Jesus is God.  

What does it mean to be blind? It means we're in the dark!  I had a co-worker many years ago who was partially blind. In one eye all he could see was blurry dark images. My co-worker needed a lot of light to see well. This is a dark world and Jesus is the light. Stand close to Him. The more light you have, the better you can see! Time Warp Questions: Who would be the pharisees? Who would be persecuting Jesus? What laws would He have broken. Verse of The Week: Then the man said, “Lord I believe,” and worshiped him.”  

Sometimes bad things happen. That doesn't mean that we sinned against God and we're being punished. It means that the work of God is about to be done. As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. 8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him.” But he himself insisted, “I am the man.” 10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked. 11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.” 12 “Where is this man?” they asked him. “I don’t know,” he said.

I’m Chris Mann and this is Psalm and Prayer. Today we’re looking at John chapter 6. We’re going to discuss Jesus’ compassion for His followers and how we should follow Him with our hearts and not our stomachs.   Last week, we discussed foreshadowing in the bible. Those little clues that seem out of place but lead to a big plot twist later on. For example, your reading a book and the author describes a water spot on the ceiling. Then a few chapters later a pipe bursts and water floods the house.   At the end of John chapter 6, we see a great example of this. Jesus is talking with his disciples and says the phrase: “Have I not chosen you, the twelve?” and here’s the foreshadow: “Yet one of you is the devil!” This statement doesn’t make any sense on it’s own and is very out of place. But later in the book of John, during the last supper, we read how satan entered Judas, who then betrayed Jesus, which leads to Jesus being arrested, which leads to Jesus’ death on the cross, which leads to Jesus being resurrected, which leads to God’s perfect plan. Let’s keep this conversation going. Send me your thoughts at psalmandprayer@gmail.com

Last week we talked about the importance of rest. Today’s lesson ties into that because of the interpretation of one in particular law that the Jewish leaders fest very strongly about.   I’ve had chronicle back problems most of my life. It’s a tightness that starts between my shoulderblades, goes up my teck, and causes pain in my shoulder. I went to a chiropractor for the first time this week. She realigned my back and neck. A side effect from your first realignment is really stiff and sore muscles. As the day went on, my upper back become more and more tense. By the time I went to bed, my shoulder blade felt like it was in a vice grip and I was praying for a miracle.   Now imagine if Jesus said to me “get up and walk,” and my back pain just went away. I would praise him for the healing. My wife would praise him. My friends and family would praise him. The healing would be a miracle.   This is how we start chapter five of John. Jesus heals a man that could not walk for thirty eight years. That’s a miracle. What happens next is interesting. Because Jesus healed on the sabbath, the jewish leaders persecuted Jesus. That makes me ask the question, would Jesus be prosecuted if the gospels took place today? Would someone go to Jesus and say “Miracle healings can only happen on Tuesdays and Thursdays for 3-6?” I don’t think so. I think he would praised everyday.  

At the beginning of John chapter four, we read Jesus is beginning his journey from Judea to Galilee. How far did he walk? According to Answers.com, Galilee is about 70 miles from Judea. After walking about 30 of those miles, Jesus rested by a well outside of a Samaritan village and rested while the disciples went into town and bought food.   I wear a fitbit everyday and track my steps while at work. On average, I will walk about five miles during an eight hour shift. Assuming that Jesus did twice that (because he walked all day), he would be walking for sixteen hours, covering ten miles a day and burning over 6,000 calories! That’s equal to eating over 90 pancakes!   So when the bible says “He was tired from His journey,” we know that Jesus was very tired. And when Jesus become tired, he rested. Not just by the well for a few minutes, but for two days, after being urged by the Samaritans to stay.   The human body needs rest. So, while you are busy this week, working hard to complete your tasks, take some time to rest before you complete the next part of your journey.  

1 Shout for joy to God, all the earth! 2     Sing the glory of his name;     make his praise glorious. 3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!     So great is your power     that your enemies cringe before you. 4 All the earth bows down to you;     they sing praise to you,     they sing the praises of your name.”[a] 5 Come and see what God has done,     his awesome deeds for mankind! 6 He turned the sea into dry land,     they passed through the waters on foot—     come, let us rejoice in him. 7 He rules forever by his power,     his eyes watch the nations—     let not the rebellious rise up against him. 8 Praise our God, all peoples,     let the sound of his praise be heard; 9 he has preserved our lives     and kept our feet from slipping.

Praise awaits[b] you, our God, in Zion;     to you our vows will be fulfilled. 2 You who answer prayer,     to you all people will come. 3 When we were overwhelmed by sins,     you forgave[c] our transgressions. 4 Blessed are those you choose     and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house,     of your holy temple. 5 You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds,     God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth     and of the farthest seas, 6 who formed the mountains by your power,     having armed yourself with strength, 7 who stilled the roaring of the seas,     the roaring of their waves,     and the turmoil of the nations.  

Hear me, my God, as I voice my complaint;     protect my life from the threat of the enemy. 2 Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,     from the plots of evildoers. 3 They sharpen their tongues like swords     and aim cruel words like deadly arrows. 4 They shoot from ambush at the innocent;     they shoot suddenly, without fear. 5 They encourage each other in evil plans,     they talk about hiding their snares;     they say, “Who will see it[b]?” 6 They plot injustice and say,     “We have devised a perfect plan!”     Surely the human mind and heart are cunning. 7 But God will shoot them with his arrows;     they will suddenly be struck down. 8 He will turn their own tongues against them     and bring them to ruin;     all who see them will shake their heads in scorn. 9 All people will fear;     they will proclaim the works of God     and ponder what he has done.