June 20
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THE GIFT OF BELIEVING
39 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.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of His word; 42 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.”– John 4:39-42
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John continues to expound on the miracle of the Samaritan woman at the well in the following verses. Notice that most of those people who are recipients of the miracles of Jesus were unnamed: the healing of the widow’s son, the royal official’s son in Capernaum, the paralytic at Bethesda, the blind man at Bethsaida, the boy at the feeding the feeding the 5000 who gave his one piece of bread and fish that Jesus multiplied. It is immaterial who receives the miracle. The important thing is who performs the signs and wonders, Jesus himself.
In John 20:30-31 says that “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
We witness another radical change that Jesus did when He approached a Samaritan woman at the well. He broke the long tradition of Jews not speaking with the Samaritans. He didn’t care about the laws and rules created by man because He is above them. He is God himself. The gift of salvation was not only for the Jews but for mankind. It is interesting how the Samaritans responded to the declaration of the woman at the well when she said that Jesus was the Messiah. They all believed and wanted Jesus to stay in their town. It was a miracle, a gift from our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, we see many people who won’t even care to receive the gift of believing. They reject Jesus, just like the Pharisees and Scribes did. “To believe that Jesus is the Son of God” is to have access to eternal life. We are given a choice to accept or reject the greatest act of love by God, to believe that Jesus is His son so that we may have eternal life with Him.
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REFLECTION
• What do you think the source of unbelief is?
• Why do some Christians manifest unbelief in their lives even though they claim that they have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior?
Monthly Archives: June 2020
ONE SOWS AND ANOTHER REAPS ILMA’S VLOG
June 19
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ONE SOWS AND ANOTHER REAPS
35 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. 36 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. 37 For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”– John 4:35-38
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The symbolic meaning of harvest in Scripture encompasses two main areas: God’s provision for us and God’s blessing for others. An article from gotquestions.com says that throughout the Bible, the harvest carries spiritual significance. It is used in parables (Luke 8:4–8) and as a metaphor for spiritual growth and health (2 Corinthians 9:10; James 3:18). The harvest has always been a beautiful and important part of life on earth, the time when the year’s work bears fruit and the people are fed. It is symbolic of bounty, health and abundance. Israel celebrated the time of the harvest with a feast, appropriately called the Feast of Harvest (Exodus 23:16).
Previous verses relate Jesus talking to the woman of Samaria. What was Jesus talking here of in verse 17 that one sows and another reaps? He purposely passed by well because he knew that the Samaritan woman would be there. The sower here is Jesus. He was sowing spiritual salvation to this woman who was looking for something to fill her life. Jesus offered salvation to her and defied the gap between Jews and the Samaritans. He tells his disciples that He began to do the work of his Father, that is to bring salvation, even to these lost Samaritans. Jesus tells them to continue to harvest that which he has started. In other words, he is asking his disciples to open their spiritual eyes and behold what he already begun and reap the spiritual harvest of his purpose to save all of mankind. Jesus has labored and he wants his followers to reap what he has done.
Spiritual growth is something that the Lord expects us to walk into. It is sad to watch many Christians not be concerned about their own progress in intimacy with the Lord. We sometimes forget that our role here on earth is to continue bring people to know Christ and make disciples of all nations so we can bring glory to God.
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REFLECTION
• Why do you think John used harvest in this story as a comparison to spiritual growth?
DOING GOD’S WILL IS NOURISHMENT ILMA’S VLOG
June 18
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DOING GOD’S WILL IS NOURISHMENT
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?” 28 So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and said to the men, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?” 30 They went out of the city, and were coming to Him. –31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.- John 4:27-34
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At this point of the story about this Samaritan woman whom Jesus intended to meet at the well, we can observe the amazement of the disciples who watched Jesus defied the protocol not to talk to Samaritans if one is a Jew. They couldn’t even voice out their questions about the radical act of Jesus approaching and talking to a Samaritan woman. I am certain that Jesus knew what they were thinking. He is God after all. The disciples avoided the question and diverted to asking him to eat. They were offering Jesus food for the body but the Lord speaks to them about spiritual nourishment that comes from doing the will of God. Yet, the disciples didn’t understand spiritual things because at this point Jesus have not died yet on the cross, so they do not yet have the Holy Spirit living in their hearts to teach them about spiritual things. So, they were wondering if someone else have brought food for Jesus. This is an interesting conversation where the disciples are talking about fleshly things and Jesus is speaking about spiritual things. So, the disciples didn’t comprehend what Jesus was saying. Isn’t this what happen to most of us often? We miss out the lesson because we are looking at it in the worldly perspective? Because we are humans, we are limited in understanding, but once, we become believers, we have the Holy Spirit living in us who will make us see things beyond what we can understand. We are given the power to have discernment and wisdom to do the things that the Father ask us if we believe and obey. Once again, the writer John gives us an amazing picture of Jesus purpose when he came down on earth: salvation for mankind. The physical nourishment is not as important as the spiritual food that comes from doing God’s will.
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REFLECTION
• What has God been asking you to do for his will to be done here on earth?
WORSHIP GOD IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH ILMA’S VLOG
June 17
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WORSHIP GOD IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH
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.” 16 He said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” 17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.” 19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” 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. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 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. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 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.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.” – John 4:15-26
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In this story, we finally get to the purpose why Jesus came by Samaria to meet this woman. Since Jesus is God, he probably already knew how this woman would respond to his invitation to salvation. Jesus broke protocols between the Jews and the Samaritan by speaking to this woman but he must have known that she would also want the living water that Jesus’ offered. She didn’t realize that she had been searching for something to quench her thirst and didn’t know where to get it. Jesus reveals himself to her as the Messiah. There is a very important message in verse 24 that Jesus requires from believers, that is, to worship Him in spirit and truth.
It is interesting that we associate worship with singing psalms and hymns but Jesus requires us to worship in spirit and truth. Many churches place so much emphasis on performance when they worship in their Sunday services. Do we really worship God in spirit when we look like the “world”? We miss out the “truth” part in the worship requirement of God when we don’t even meditate on Scriptures or live holy lives.
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REFLECTION
• What does it really mean to worship God in truth and in spirit?
• Can we worship God without knowing Him and his word? Why or why not?
THE WELL OF LIVING WATER ILMA’S VLOG
June 16
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THE WELL OF LIVING WATER
7 There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 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.) 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.” 11 She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? 12 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?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14 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.”– John 4:7-14
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There was a long history of the conflict between the Jews and the Samaritans that dated back in the days of King Rehoboam where the Jews hated the Samaritans and they never spoke to each other. In this story, we see Jesus defying the protocols between Jews and Samaritans by speaking to a Samaritan woman. So, the woman was bewildered why a Jew would even talk to her and ask her for a drink. In John 4:4, it says that Jesus had to pass to Samaria. He had a plan to meet this woman. It wasn’t coincidence. He came to save this woman who had been thirsty all her life for living water and she didn’t even know it. Jesus starts a conversation with her by asking for water to illustrate what he already knows about her. He knew that she had been searching for something to quench her spiritual thirst. In verse 12, she began to wonder who this man was and asked if he was greater than Jacob. His reply illustrated the actual dilemma she was in. He assured her that if she drank the water he gives, she won’t be thirsty at all anymore and that it will be a well of water that springs up to eternal life. Jesus was explaining to her the difference of what his kingdom can offer versus what the world gives. The difference between Jacob’s well and Jesus’ well is that the water from Jesus’ springs from eternal life which means that when you have Jesus in your heart, you will never be feeling empty again. He fills you up and quenches your thirst.
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REFLECTION
• Why do you think Jesus defied the protocol of not associating with Samaritans?
• Why did Jesus pass by Samaria to meet this woman? What was Jesus’ agenda?
RESTING AT THE WELL AT THE SIXTH HOUR ILMA’S VLOG
June 15
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RESTING AT THE WELL AT THE SIXTH HOUR
Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), 3 He left Judea and went away again into Galilee. 4 And He had to pass through Samaria. 5 So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; 6 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.
– John 4:1-6
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Jesus and his disciples walked on foot. Jesus knew that the Pharisees were going to make a big deal of his disciples baptizing more people than John the Baptist so, he left Judea. Though John talks about Jesus’ divinity in the earlier chapters, we are shown here how he is also fully human and experiences the limitations of a human body. He was tired and needed to rest. Verse 4 tells us that he had to pass by Samaria, the purpose of which we will know in the later part of this chapter. He sat resting at Jacob’s well. John refers to the time of day as the “sixth hour.” There is some debate over which time system John uses in his gospel. Roman time, which starts at noon, would make this around 6pm which is most likely. However, we can see that John’s clock is interpreted differently from version to version. Some bible translations are more modern in their mention of the time. The other possibility is that John may be using the same time-system as the other gospels, which start the day at 6am. So, Jesus may be sitting at the well at noon or at 6pm. Either way, this is hot and inconvenient hour of the day to get water at the well.
In this story, we get a glimpse of Jesus’ humanity. He gets tired of the religious leaders constant grumbling, walking miles and miles in the heat and yet mindful that he needs to meet someone at the well. We know that the next part of the chapter talks about the Samaritan woman whom he purposefully planned to save. It is interesting that despite all the tiredness and challenges that the religious people posed on his ministry, he still continued to take on the work of bringing others to salvation. John, once again gave us a character sketch of the faithfulness of Jesus to follow God’s purpose to save people from their sins as we are about to witness how He interrupted the Samaritan woman’s living in a state of sin, hopping from one man to another in the ensuing verses. What a loving God!
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REFLECTION
• How do we know that Jesus was both God and human in this story?
HE WHO DOESN’T OBEY WON’T SEE LIFE ILMA’S VLOG
June 14
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HE WHO DOESN’T OBEY WON’T SEE LIFE
31 “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. 32 What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. 33 He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. 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.” – John 3:31-36
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The whole chapter three of John’s gospel declares verse by verse the divinity of Jesus. He comes from heaven and is above all. The previous verses before these ending for this chapter is giving us a picture of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God sent to us so that God’s love will be manifest in Him alone. He has made everything for Him and through Him and has given all things into His hand.
The greatest promise of God to mankind is emphasized in this chapter. He gave his only begotten Son so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. That is one of the conditions; to believe. The other condition is to obey.
Some Christians think that to believe is a passive act. Nelson’s bible dictionary defines faith as a belief in or confident attitude toward God, involving commitment to his will for one’s life. Nelson says belief is to place one’s trust in God’s truth. A person who believes is one who takes God at his word and trusts in him for salvation. So, when you commit, it isn’t a passive act. It is active because you have put your heart into it. Obedience is compliance with an order, request, law or submission to another’s authority. So, if we made a decision to believe in Jesus Christ, shouldn’t obedience be automatic? Just like when we decide to marry someone, we have made a commitment to be with that person for life and that we will do life together. A wife entrusts her life to her husband and he is supposed to care and love her as he would his own body. She in turn needs to submit to him in everything. This is how Christ, who is the bridegroom treats his wife, the church. He brings her honor and ensures that she stays pure for him. This is why disobedience is such a defiance to God’s commands. He can’t fulfill his promise when we don’t obey him.
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REFLECTION
• Why do you think obedience is a very important factor in a Christian’s life?
HE MUST INCREASE AND I MUST INCREASE ILMA’S VLOG
June 13
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HE MUST INCREASE AND I MUST DECREASE
22 After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized— 24 for John had not yet been thrown into prison. 25 Therefore there arose a discussion on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about purification. 26 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.” 27 John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ 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. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease. – John 3:22-30
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John’s followers reported to him about how he is losing people to baptize because they were all going to Jesus instead. It is interesting how humans can be very limited about loyalties. They think that John the Baptist was the greatest prophet who cannot lose his following just because this one man came after John. They still didn’t know that Jesus was the Messiah that John had been prophesying about.
Let’s examine the character of John in this account. We witness someone who is very wise and spiritual. In verse 27, he says to his followers, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven”. This is clearly a statement that exemplifies John’s supernatural wisdom in understanding the deity of Christ. His humility is astounding as he continues to declare that he is not the Christ and gave the illustration that he is just the friend of the bridegroom, whom he is referring to Jesus. He says that he must not be seen as much as the bridge-groom should; that it is Jesus who must increase and he must decrease. No wonder Matthew 11:11 declares John the Baptist as the greatest prophet who has ever lived. John knew his place. He never took credit for what’s not his assignment. He knew that his life was to be Jesus’ precursor and that his whole life was to fulfill that role. Do we even recognize the purpose of our lives in God’s kingdom?
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REFLECTION
• Why do you think some Christian take credit for what only belongs to God?
THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE TO ALL BELIEVERS ILMA’S VLOG
June 12
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THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE TO ALL BELIEVERS
16 “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. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the [only begotten Son of God. 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. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
– John 3:16-21
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The book of John is full of the loving nature of God. Verse 3:16 is the essence of Christianity and is the whole theme of the bible. Because of God’s big heart, he decided to rescue mankind from corruption and evil by sacrificing his own Son, Jesus. This chapter explains that Jesus isn’t the one who will judge the world, but it is God the Father who will. In the old testament, we know that God got tired of how evil man has become. So, God decided to bring flood to annihilate them and left Noah and his family who were the only righteous people that time. When the Israelites became unfaithful and served other gods after God delivered them from their enemies, they were also punished. God cannot tolerate evil. Even though he loved all his creation, he will destroy anything wicked.
God loves us so much that he thought of a solution: to make his only begotten Son, Jesus as the sacrifice to atone for our sins so we can be reconciled to our beloved Father. It was a gift of reconciliation. That through Jesus, we can have clean beginning to commune with our heavenly Father. There is nothing required from us but to believe in Jesus because those who won’t believe are already judged and is disqualified to have eternal life. Those who continue to embrace evil in their lives won’t get this gift of salvation. We are told that those who love the darkness will be afraid to come into the light. Light covers darkness, so it won’t even go near it. If it did, it will be extinguished by the great light that only comes from Jesus Christ. We are only asked to believe in Christ so we can have eternal life.
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REFLECTION
• Why do some believers fail to comprehend the concept of “grace through Christ?”
UNBELIEF LEADS TO DEPRAVITY ILMA’S VLOG
June 11
________________________________________ UNBELIEF LEADS TO DEPRAVITY
9 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. 12 If I told you earthly things and you do not believe how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. 14 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.– John 3:9-15
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Prior to these following verses, we learned that Nicodemus, a high-ranking Jewish teacher went secretly to Jesus at night to ask questions. He was curious about how Jesus knew so much about God truths when he wasn’t educated like him. Jesus answered one of his questions prior to these part of Scriptures about being born again, but Nicodemus still couldn’t comprehend what Jesus was saying. It is clear in the words of the Lord that Nicodemus was struggling with unbelief. Jesus asked the Jewish teacher how can he know earthly things that he already explained earlier, how harder would it be if he told him heavenly things. Jesus told him that he is the Son of Man from heaven, but there is just so much disbelief that he couldn’t accept it. Thereby, making him more confused and ignorant. Curiosity hindered him from hearing the truth. His accolades as a Jewish ruler can’t grasp the concept of this poor uneducated man who claims to be the Son of God.
Unbelief destroys the capacity to understand even simple things. I have a fellow believer who is doing life with me and for a whole year of studying and discipleship, she still couldn’t let go of all her beliefs that doesn’t align with truth. She wants to cling to what she knew because it was comfortable for her to hold on to what she was used to. She didn’t want to hear the truth since she had been believing all lies and distorted teachings about Jesus. She could not put on the new nature in Christ because she wouldn’t take off the old nature. One cannot put another set of clothes over the top of old clothes. It wouldn’t sit right. It is the same with the new creation when you became born again. You can’t mix it with the old. It wouldn’t be right.
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REFLECTION
• What is your concept of unbelief? Why do you think there are there still many Christians who live unbelieving lives?