Monthly Archives: January 2025

January 21

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JOHN 5
After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. – John 5:1-9

JOHN 5 THE MAN WITH A VICTIM MINDSET
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
When Jesus went up to Jerusalem, there was a feast going on
There is a pool by the Sheep Gate called Bethesda
This pool has five roofed colonnades and infested with sick people
Some are blind, lame, paralyzed and other kinds of infirmities
One man had been invalid for thirty-eight years and Jesus saw him
He came to the man to ask him if he wanted to be healed
Instead of a yes, he replied with his “victim mindset story”
Yet Jesus commanded him to get up and take up his bed and walk.

In this account we see the compassion of Jesus to those who were all in need of healing. Interestingly, he helped this invalid for thirty-eight years, who didn’t sound to be as enthusiastic to get healing. He had been so used to being stepped over and disregarded by those people who flock to the pool daily for many years. There is an interesting way that he answered the question of Jesus which reflects many of us today.
We don’t truly have a high expectancy of desire to be healed. Instead, we focus on the suffering and the drama we have suffered already and get stuck with the “poor me” mentality, I can’t do a thing for myself. We stayed at the pity party. What a contrast Jesus is compared to our very weak and little faith conditions. Yet, Jesus still felt compassion for that man of little faith and grant him healing.

REFLECTION
• How does a victim mindset set us up for defeat and stunted growth?

JOHN 4 JESUS HEALS AN OFFICIAL’S SON

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January 20

JOHN 4
46 So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” 49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. 51 As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52 So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household. 54 This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee. – John 4:46-54

JOHN 4 JESUS HEALS AN OFFICIAL’S SON
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
As Jesus came down to Cana where he had his first sign
An official was desperate for healing for his son who is ill
That man knew and believed that Jesus is the only one who can heal him
So, in faith, he asked Jesus to heal him and at that time, Jesus did another sign
He healed the official’s son from illness that seventh hour Jesus said he would.

Have you ever wondered what is the criteria for Jesus to give a sign to the people? Why would he heal this official’s son and not other sick persons. I think that there are requirements for Jesus to show up and let himself be glorified. This man is an official and yet had the humility to seek Jesus’ help. Faith is another reason why Jesus complied.
Mark 11:22-24 explains this very clearly by Jesus to his disciples. 22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. 23 I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. 24 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.

REFLECTION
• Share an experience where Jesus brought a sign in your life?

JOHN 4 JESUS’ NOURISHMENT IS TO DO HIS FATHER’S WILL

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January 18

JOHN 4
27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town 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 said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. – John 4:27-38

JOHN 4 JESUS’ NOURISHMENT IS TO DO HIS FATHER’S WILL
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
When Jesus came down from heaven to earth
It was to fulfill His Father’s salvation plan
He cannot be derailed from doing anything else
So, when his disciples urged him to eat
He made it clear which ones are a priority
The Spirit is higher than the physical needs
He knew how to control his appetites and set it aside
He is focused on the Father’s plan being fulfilled rather than his own needs.

How many of us could set aside hunger and do kingdom work first? We are very sinful people and we couldn’t control our appetites. I know it seemed like they were caring for Jesus to have something to eat since he was tired in midday and hot, but they forget that Jesus cannot be distracted by food or any other physical needs. He was there to save this Samaritan woman and bear witness to Jesus as the Messiah which she spread as soon as she went back to town. Sometimes, they forget that he is God too.

REFLECTION
• How can we develop a spiritual priority over physical need as Christians?

JOHN 4 WORSHIP IN TRUTH AND SPIRIT

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January 17

JOHN 4
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on 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 the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 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 he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he. – John 4:16-26

JOHN 4 WORSHIP IN TRUTH AND SPIRIT
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
God the Father seeks those who will worship him in spirit and in truth
Because God is Spirit, he also needs worshippers in spirit
After his Son Jesus died on the cross, the temple has now been shifted
Every believer is now the temple because the Holy Spirit indwelled them.

When Jesus told the woman the truth about her not having a husband but have had five husbands, she probably was ashamed and tried to divert the topic into worship and asked Jesus about what she heard where people ought to worship. According to Barclay’s commentary, the Samaritans worshipped in ignorance. The Samaritans accepted only the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament. They rejected all the rest of the Old Testament. They had therefore rejected all the great messages of the prophets and all the supreme devotion of the Psalms. The Jewish Rabbis said that the Samaritan worship was founded not on love and knowledge, but on ignorance and fear.
Jesus told her that there’ll come a time when people don’t need to go and worship in the mountains. He was speaking about the Holy Spirit indwelling those who believe.

REFLECTION
• How do you know if you truly worship the Lord in truth and Spirit?

JOHN 4 JESUS BREAKS BARRIERS

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January 16

JOHN 4
Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman from Samaria came 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 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” – John 4:1-15

JOHN 4 JESUS BREAKS BARRIERS
According to Barclay’s commentary, Jesus did not wish at this stage in his ministry to be involved in a controversy about baptism; so, he decided to quit Judaea for the time being and transfer his operations to Galilee. We witness Jesus’ humanity in this account as he was tired with the journey. It was midday. The Jewish day runs from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the sixth hour is twelve o’clock midday. It was hot, and Jesus was weary and thirsty from travelling. His disciples went on ahead to buy some food in the Samaritan town. Something must have been beginning to happen to them. Before they had met Jesus it is entirely unlikely that they would have even thought of buying food in any Samaritan town.
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water at the well, Jesus asked her for a drink and the woman was shocked that he would even talk to her.

REFLECTION
• How did Jesus exhibit radical change from tradition in this account?

JOHN 3 WHOEVER BELIEVES IN THE SON

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January 15

JOHN 3
31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent utters 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 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
– John 3:31-36

JOHN 3 WHOEVER BELIEVES IN THE SON
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
Whoever believes in the Son of God will have eternal life
Because the Son himself bears witness to the Father’s love
Everything that He says is true because it comes from up above
Whoever believes what He says will be spared from God’s wrath
But all those who don’t believe in what He says will stay in the dark
He won’t be able to receive truth because the Spirit won’t be with him.

In this account, John testifies to the divinity of the Son of God. He expounds on the importance of believing in the One who is sent to us so we can be saved and have eternal life. Without believing in Jesus, we will continue to sin and live in darkness. Without acknowledging truth, we will be unable to understand it because we won’t have the Spirit to allow us to understand and receive it.
John also focuses on the supremacy and the authority that God the Father has given to His only begotten Son. Whoever believes and obeys his Son is doing it also to Him. This is how the Father loves his Son so much that He gave him all power and authority to rule the hearts of those who choose to believe Him. But God will never force himself on anyone. He gave us a will to choose him or not.

REFLECTION
• How is believing in Jesus the first step to salvation?
• What blocks us from hearing and obeying the truth?

JOHN 3 RECEIVING IS A GIFT FROM GOD

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January 14

JOHN 3
22 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 24 (for John had not yet been put in prison).
25 Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” 27 John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”
– John 3:22-30

JOHN 3 RECEIVING IS A GIFT FROM GOD
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
God gives gifts generously to all without biases
He is unconditional when he shows his love to us
If he chooses you and decides what to gift you with
He also gives you the ability to receive such gifts
Do not ever think that you own everything you have
Every good and perfect gift comes from up above.

In the following verses, the disciples of John the Baptist were reporting to him that Jesus and his disciples were also baptizing. Because there were more crowd coming to them, the disciples of John were a bit insecure that they were baptizing less people. We don’t know why they were experiencing a form of envy or what the dispute is about, so they went and told their master about it.
John showed no concerns about it because he knew that Jesus was the Messiah and reminded them that every gift that is received is also coming from the Lord up above. It is not only the gift but the act of receiving it that the Lord gives anyone he choses.

REFLECTION
• Why do you think some people have trouble receiving gifts?

JOHN 3 THOSE WHO HATE THE LIGHT

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January 13

JOHN 3
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” – John 3:16-21

JOHN 3 THOSE WHO HATE THE LIGHT
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
Those who do evil things would not want to come to the light
Because darkness is where they hide their wickedness
They do not believe in truth; they want to live in lies
But whoever does what is true comes to the light
Wicked people reject the light who has come into the world
They will perish as they continue to mock the word of God.

These following verses contain the whole message of the gospel in one sentence: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Many people do not truly understand this verse unless they have a consistent relationship with the Lord and unless the Holy Spirit reveals it to their hearts.
How do we know if someone is open to accept the gospel? John gives us an illustration of the separation of good and evil when he mentions the coming of the light (who is Jesus)
into the world. Those who are evil will continue to love darkness since they do not want their sins to be exposed in the light. But those who love the truth will have no trouble getting into the light, so that the world will see God’s glory. They have nothing to hide because they live righteous lives obedient to God’s laws.

REFLECTION
• Why do you think some people do not want to accept and believe in the gospel?

JOHN 3 BORN OF THE SPIRIT

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January 12

JOHN 3
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
– John 3:1-8

JOHN 3 BORN OF THE SPIRIT
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
When God chose you to be one of his people
He gave you the ability to accept his calling
When you believe in the only begotten Son of God
You are filled with His Spirit and become born again
You no longer follow the cravings of your flesh
The Holy Spirit makes you want to give glory to Jesus.

In this account, we see that Nicodemus, one of the Pharisees who belong to the ruling class of the Jews is in the brink of deciding whether he will believe that Jesus is the Son of God or not. A part of him knew that unless Jesus was from God, he couldn’t do the signs that he did. Yet, a part of him wanted to understand how that is possible. To safeguard his reputation, he had to come in the night to see Jesus when no one could see him. He was afraid to lose his standing as one of those who are looked up to by many. In other words, he idolized his position more than he wanted to believe Jesus.
How many Christians will truly commit to Jesus and not hide their faith? When Jesus told him the requirement is to be born again, Nicodemus didn’t understand it.

REFLECTION
• How can you know that a believer is truly born again?

JOHN 2 NOTHING IS HIDDEN FROM JESUS

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January 11

JOHN 2
23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. – John 2:23-25

JOHN 2 NOTHING IS HIDDEN FROM JESUS
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
Man’s nature is bent and will be that way without God’s grace
Humans tend to cater to his own cravings and the desires of his flesh
In our sinful state, we can never truly give glory to Jesus Christ
Because of sin, we are easily deceived by our own selfishness and pride
We can deceive another man but we can’t hide anything from God
He knows us in and out; he has counted every strand of hair in our head
Why continue to deceive yourself when there is nothing that he doesn’t know?
Why not open up your heart and receive the mercy and grace he gives you?

In this account, many believed in his name when they witnessed Jesus’ miracles, teachings and signs, but Jesus didn’t trust some of them for he knew exactly what was in their hearts. Some may have believed because they saw him doing these signs, but that could be short lived when they do not see anything more than what their limited minds expect. He also knew that many Jews were still skeptical and had unbelief.
Some commentators such as Morgan said ““If belief is nothing more than admiration for the spectacular, it will create in multitudes applause; but the Son of God cannot commit Himself to that kind of faith.” Bruce commented “Other leaders and teachers may be misled at times into giving their followers more credit for loyalty and understanding than they actually possess; not so Jesus, who could read the inmost thoughts of men and women like an open book.” Morris stated that “When many came to believe in Him, He did not commit Himself to them. He was not dependent on man’s approval.”

REFLECTION
• How can we be open to receive the faith that we are given by God?