As I continue reading through the Gospel of John today, a lot of Scripture stood out to me. I’d like to share with you my sundry thoughts on these verses. I hope you’re blessed.

Killing The Miracle

So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well.

John 12:10 (NIV)

Have you ever noticed that with every spiritual breakthrough or victory that something negative usually follows it? It doesn’t even have to be something super-duper huge as long as there’s a victory and God is getting the glory. I don’t like to give the Devil credit for anything because there’s nothing he can do without the permission of God. I do believe, however, that when there’s a victory in our lives, Satan goes to God and asks if he can try and steal it from us.

That’s what I see in John 12:10 here. Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, and the chief priests wanted to kill him. They wanted to kill the miracle to try and stop people from believing in Jesus. Satan knows that the loyalty and emotions of human beings are often transitory at best.

This is one reason why we need to take verses like Proverbs 3:5-6 and live them.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

When we live our lives leaning on God for all things, then we have victory in all things. The glory of everything that happens goes to God. This doesn’t mean that those things we don’t give up to God that work out are done and worked out by us. Even if we think they do. No, God still works them out. However, if we compartmentalize our lives, then we are prone to believing the victories in our lives are also compartmentalized when they aren’t.

Satan always has someone working against us. Sometimes we notice it more when we seek God’s help because when we’re not seeking God’s help, that person working against God might just be us. Now, that’s not to say that you noticing those attacks on the big victories is because you’ve been working for the devil. I think it means we’re more in tune with God, so we’re seeing the attack. Let’s face it, some attacks are just so big that they’re hard not to miss.

What matters is how we respond when the attacks come. We lean on the Lord, ever praising Him, and we move on. We don’t want to consider what happens if we don’t.

The Voice from Heaven

Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

John 12:28 (NIV)

Perhaps it’s just me, but I often expect to hear God talk to me in a still small voice.

And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

1 Kings 19:12 (KJV)

When the Lord spoke to Elijah with the still small voice, it wasn’t because He couldn’t talk to him in a regular tone of voice or even a shout. However, whenever I hear someone talking about hearing from the Lord, they inevitably seem to refer to God’s “still small voice.” When God spoke to Elijah with a whisper, I think it was to show him that everything He did wasn’t an incredible fireworks display accompanied by a loud, “Dom, dom, dom, dom!” In fact, I’m certain that God doesn’t speak to anyone else in all of Scripture in a quiet voice.

I think God wants us to understand Him when He talks to us. Therefore, He’s going to speak to us in a language, and with words, we understand.

Stoop if Necessary

After Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, He said these two things to them.

Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

John 13:16-17 (NIV)

These verses tell me a few things. First, there’s nothing I should consider “below me” when it comes to serving other people. Especially those in the body of Christ. Second, I’m going to be blessed when I do these things. Finally, if I don’t do these things, I’m not going to be blessed. Was Jesus just talking about washing feet? I don’t think so. I think we can look to James to help us understand what “these things” might be.

If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

James 4:17 (NIV)

The context of James 4:17 has to do with making plans for tomorrow and being prideful, I believe we can also apply it to doing going things or not doing good things. I don’t know about you, but when I do something good for someone, I’m usually blessed as well. I also think we’ve all had those moments when we’ve seen something good that we could have done, and we haven’t done it. Sometimes it’s because we choose not to do it, and other times it’s not.

Conclusion

Today we’ve learned a few things. When we lean on God for all things, then we’ll see the victory in all things, and the schemes of the Devil aren’t going to have the same impact on us as when we only lean on God for a few things. We’ve also learned that God doesn’t always speak to us in a still small voice. In fact, God can speak to us in any and all circumstances, and if we’re His sheep, we know His voice. Finally, we learned that we should never think we’re too good to serve someone or that anything is beneath us, and that we’ll be blessed whenever we help someone out.

I appreciate you stopping by and hope you’ve been as blessed today by reading this as I have been in writing it.

Do you know God? God knows you, and He loves you. He sees you as significant because you are. No one is insignificant to Him. He’s with you today, right now, and He wants you to know Him. Jesus died for your sins and mine so we could be free of guilt, be freed from death, and live eternally with Him. Eternal salvation is just a prayer away.

Pray this prayer with me to accept the gift of salvation today:

Lord Jesus, forgive me for all my sins. I repent from my ways. Wash me in your blood and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I believe that you died on the cross, were buried, and on the third day, God the Father raised you from the dead. Right now, Lord Jesus, I open the door to my heart, and I receive you into my heart as my Lord and personal Savior. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer, then congratulations! You are on the first step of a brand new life. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to my family, the family of God. There are abundant resources available online for new Christians. You can visit here for more information on what to do next. You can also leave me a comment, and I’ll do my best to help you on the next step of this incredible journey.

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