John 16 Devotional

John 16: 12 – 13 "I still have many things to tell you, but you can't handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is.”

Application: Have you ever gone to a movie and did not understand what was going on? Have you seen a commercial and felt lost as to its point? Or maybe you can remember being in class and having no idea what the teacher was talking about? How did that make you feel? Did you feel confused or maybe you felt frustrated? Usually when we get into circumstances like that our frustration drives us to look for someone to help bring clarity to the situation. As humans we take comfort in understanding. Why? Well I think it gives us a sense of control. Even a little bit of control can be comforting. Everyone likes to be in control; it’s part of being human. But, what happens when the questions we face can not be answered by anyone we know and can not be found in any books we read, or even through a www.GOOGLE.com search? Where do we go then? Well this is probably how the disciples were feeling as Jesus was talking to them. Think about it! He tells them in Chapter 13 that He would be crucified. In Chapter 14 He tells them that He is leaving them. Oh and in Chapter 15 He tells them that THEY would be persecuted. And, finally in chapter 16 he tells them that THEY would be killed as well. At this point, they are more than confused and frustrated; they are probably angry, shocked, and terrified. And to top it all off, they are feeling that way and Jesus is STILL there. Jesus knows this! That is why He gives them hope for the future. That is why he said, "I still have many things to tell you, but you can't handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is.” Jesus wants the disciples to know that there is a point to all of this. Even though he would not be there physically to answer their questions, He would be in them spiritually to help them make sense of their life. And, I think that is what He is trying to say to us. Just like with the disciples, he is not here physically and He knows we are going to go through difficult times. SHHH! Did you hear that? I hear the Lord saying, “I will be in you to answer any questions you might have. I will be here to help you gain control over your circumstances!” You see the Holy Spirit’s responsibility is to guide the believer to all truth. As a result of Him living in us, we have the ability to comprehend all truth through our relationship with Jesus. So, don’t be afraid of life, nor do you have any reason to fear death. Why? God is in control and because He lives in you He will give some of that control back to you. Oh, and this does not mean don’t study anymore! Sorry! ;-)

Three action steps:

1. Take the time to memorize John 16: 12 – 13

2. Have you ever heard from God? What did HE say to you?

3. What does it mean when some one says the Holy Spirit guides us?

Leadership lessons from Joshua

⁵ Joshua 3:5 Then Joshua said to the people "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you."

One quality accepted of a leader is to motivate his or her people before a great battle, game, or mission. Usually it is at this point that the people get their inspiration to endure the fight until the end. The leader often through speech or action is called upon to put into context the follower’s purpose and to clarify their role in history. This is a common pattern played out in Hollywood. Whether it is 300, Troy, Kingdom of Heaven, or Braveheart the speech always precedes the battle. However, this is not the case when it comes to battle preparation for God’s Kingdom. Not only do we not see a speech to inspire the people of God on to victory, but Joshua tells the people to “Consecrate” themselves before they even begin the fight That’s pretty anticlimactic. Where is their inspiration to come from? Where is their motivation to come from? Why Isn’t Joshua standing in the middle of the River Jordan and declaring to the people of God to “Posses the land for it is yours…” No, you do not get any of that here. But, what you do get is this. Joshua the Kingdom leader tells his people that God would be among them and that He would work miracles). And, as a result of God being with them they were required to separate themselves from that which defiles and give them entirely to God. Joshua is conveying that God’s presence among the people would be all the inspiration and motivation they needed to endure until the end. The truth the Hebrews had to understand was that with God they would defeat every foe and win every battle. However, because God would be among the people they were required to live above defilement in order that he might remain with them. Even though the Kingdom leader may at times have to inspire the people of God to continue on, it is ultimately the Kingdom leader’s job to remind the people of God to live above reproach and that God himself is the ultimate motivation to go forward in faith—even before a war. A leader who can motivate his or her people before a great battle, game, or mission is valuable, but a Kingdom leader who can remind the people to live above reproach and who can put the focus on God is priceless.

John 15 Devotional

John 15: 5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Application: Have you ever studied hard for a test only to realize that you studied for the wrong one? Or, have you ever spent so much time building up your relationships with your friends that you hurt your relationships with your family? Or, have you ever saved up your money to buy something only to realize that after it was purchased it did not bring you the joy you thought it would? What is the common denominator in each of these examples? The common denominator in each example is misplaced effort that led to major disappointment and not to true peace. Jesus is attempting to teach His disciples how to obtain true peace in this Scripture and to avoid the conclusion of realizing at the end of their life they have misplaced their efforts and are majorly disappointment with their rewards. You see, at this point in Jesus’ ministry, He is about to be crucified and return to Heaven. And, He is trying to give His disciples some last minute advice to live by while He is physically away from them. What is the crux of His advice you might ask? Well it is this no matter what your life looks like obey what I [Jesus] have told you and you will find eternal happiness. Why was this important for His disciples to understand? Well, just like Adam and Eve were tempted to doubt God’s word in the garden, so are Christians tempted to doubt God’s word in the world. Jesus talks about this temptation in chapters 15 and 16 of John. In John 15: 5 He says, "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.” Now the question you may have is, ‘what does Jesus mean when He says “…apart from Me you can do nothing?”’ Does He mean I will not be rich unless I abide in Him? No! Does he mean I will not be healthy unless I abide in Him? No! Does He mean that I will not have friends unless I abide in Him? No! Does He mean I will not be popular unless I abide in Him? No! Well, what does He mean? In order to answer this you must go to John 16: 33. Jesus says, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” To understand what Jesus is saying you must remember that the New Testament is written in Greek by Jewish men. So whenever the author who is Jewish says peace in Greek, he is refereeing to the Hebrew word Shalom. Shalom in the Hebrew dialect has a significant meaning to the Jew and for us. For, Shalom means completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, and the absence of agitation or discord. You see, Jesus is protecting His disciples from living their entire lives trying to fit into the world and thinking that they are going to find peace or become complete. He is trying to protect them from working hard for the wrong things. For example, why sacrifice your time with God and your family who you will be with forever (forever is along time it’s like forever!) just to get a promotion that will not last longer than 50 years max! Jim Elliot said it like this, “He Is No Fool Who Gives What He Cannot Keep to gain That Which He Cannot Lose.” Jesus Christ, Jim Elliot and I are all talking about eternal rewards! Jesus is trying to get His disciples and us to study for the right test! You see, we cannot be complete without Jesus’ help, and we cannot obtain eternal happiness or Shalom trying to fit into a world that is vindictive to our God. Friend, there are many things a person can do in this life, but in order to give God glory we must abide in Jesus to ensure we have peace and eternal rewards! How do we abide in Jesus? Look at John 15:10, “If you obey my commandment you will abide in my love.” Thus the point of what I am saying is this, “if you want to truly be happy forever, obey Jesus words.” If you obey His words, you will find true peace forever. And, you will never have to worry about being disappointed again! Oh and, don’t worry you are studying for the right test this time!

Three action steps:

1. Take the time to memorize John 15:5

2. How do you abide in Jesus?

3. What is the one command in Matthew 5 – 7 that is the most difficult for you to do? Why?

What God is doing...

Wow, I wish I could put into words what God is doing...Not now...not yet. But, the stars are aligning. I would ask you to pray for me that what ever obstacles the enemy has placed in front of me that I would trust God to remove them and that I would leave no blessing on the table. Man, I feel like I am at the precipice of walking into my destiny, but I need God to move majorly for me so that it can happen...

Ministry in Minnesota

This is a kind of look at God post. So enjoy...Well God is so good. And, believe me one day all wrongs will be righted so just trust in Him. This week I am up in Minnesota where I was asked to preach this Sunday at the Edge Christian fellowship in Rodgers. Rodgers is about 15 min drive from Downtown Minneapolis. I am also going to be speaking at the Minnesota Teen challenge, which is one of the largest teen challenge establishments in the country. I had a great time ministering there last time. Furthermore, the christian chronicle will be doing an article on what has been doing through me recently. And, lastly I have been asked to do a radio interview with KTIS, which is the largest Christan radio station in the US. God is moving...and I pray I can continually magnify his name. Now the funny thing is I found out about this interview on Monday. Tuesday i received the questions for the interview check out the questions:

· Question 1#: We heard that you played against another former Minnesota Viking in High School, and had a connection with him in college and the pro’s, can you tell us about that?

o Randy Moss

· Question # 2: Players had a definition for what the NFL stood for what was that?

o Not For Long

· Question #3 What did the fame of the NFL bring?

o Many good things but it also brought a lot of Shallow Friendships

· Question #4 How you decided to get into the ministry?

o Journey of discovering what my true calling was

· Question #5 You have said to people that your first time through school your grades were not the best, you even had an acronym for what your report card looked like, tell us now what you have achieved after football when it comes to your education?

o Earned a double Masters from Regent University in Business and Divinity, and will be starting PHD Program this spring.

o Recognized by Regent as top Divinity Student of the year / also an Academic all American

· Question #6 You have traveled overseas, where did you go and what was that like?

o Haiti, Bosnia,

· Question #7 What brought you back to The Twin Cities?

o Speaking at Minnesota Teen Challenge, and a local Church

· Question #8 You have recently started a non-profit ministry, can you tell us about that?

o Envision Immanuel

If you want to ask a fun question, Anthony also worked out/tried out for The Green Bay Packers (kind of like Brett Favre a Viking and a Packer)

Look at question #1 again...Now the funny thing is on Tuesday night I found out that Randy Moss may be traded to the Vikings...And on Wednesday morning I found out that he was traded. I don't know, but I think God is doing something.