Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / July 9 - John 7

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July 9 - John 7 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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Hotline friends, it's shown here.
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It is the 9th of July and you have been kind enough to tap on
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play so that you and I can read another chapter of John
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together. How good is this gospel man?
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John does not muck around, he just goes in deep.
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You know, people talk about John being like the ocean where you
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can wade in the shallows or swim and dive in the depths.
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Boy, it feels like there's a lot of depth at the moment.
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And today we'll be equally deep. So you'll have to get out your
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sonar and set it to Jesus mode. And we will learn more about our
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Saviour as we read these words. You ready to do it?
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Yeah, I am too. Let us go back all those years
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sitting beside John, hearing this old disciple reminisce and
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share his recollections and his heart all about Jesus life and
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the moments that mattered most. Let's read together John Chapter
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7. After this, Jesus travelled
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around Galilee. He wanted to stay out of Judea
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where the Jewish leaders were plotting his death.
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But soon it was time for the Jewish festival of shelters and
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Jesus brothers said to him, leave here and go to Judea where
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your followers can see your miracles.
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You can't become famous if you hide like this.
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If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the
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world. For even his brothers didn't
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believe in him. Jesus replied, Now is not the
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right time for me to go, but you can go anytime.
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The world can't hate you, but it does hate me because I accuse it
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of doing evil. You go on.
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I'm not going to the festival because my time has not yet
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come. After saying these things, Jesus
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remained in Galilee. But after his brothers left for
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the festival, Jesus also went though secretly staying out of
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public view. The Jewish leaders tried to find
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him at the festival and kept asking if anyone had seen him.
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There was a lot of grumbling about him among the crowds.
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Some argued he's a good man, but others said he's nothing but a
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fraud who deceives the people. But no one had the courage to
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speak favourably about him in public, for they were afraid of
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getting in trouble with the Jewish leaders.
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Then, midway through the festival, Jesus went up to the
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temple and began to teach. The people were surprised when
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they heard him. How does he know so much when he
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hasn't been trained? They asked.
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So Jesus told them my message is not my own, it comes from God
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who sent me. Anyone who wants to do the will
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of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is
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merely my own. Those who speak for themselves
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want glory only for themselves. But a person who seeks to honour
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the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies.
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Moses gave you the law, but none of you obeys it.
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In fact, you were trying to kill me, the crowd replied.
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You're demon possessed who's trying to kill you, Jesus
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replied. I did one miracle on the
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Sabbath, and you were amazed that you work on the Sabbath too
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when you obey Moses law of circumcision.
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Actually, this tradition of circumcision began with the
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patriarchs long before the Law of Moses.
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For if the correct time for circumcising your son falls on
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the Sabbath, you go ahead and do it so as not to break the Law of
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Moses. So why should you be angry with
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me for healing a man on the Sabbath?
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Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly.
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Some of the people who lived in Jerusalem started to ask each
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other, isn't this the man they're trying to kill?
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But here he is speaking in public, and they say nothing to
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him. Could our leaders possibly
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believe that He is the Messiah? But how could he be?
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For we know where this man comes from.
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When the Messiah comes, he will simply appear.
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No one will know where he comes from.
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While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he called out, yes, you
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know me and you know where I come from, but I'm not here on
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my own. The one who sent me is true, and
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you don't know Him, but I know him because I come from him and
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he sent me to you. Then the leaders tried to arrest
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him, but no one laid a hand on him because his time had not yet
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come. Many among the crowds at the
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temple believed in him. After all, they said, would you
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expect the Messiah to do more miraculous signs than this man
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has done? When the Pharisees heard that
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the crowds were whispering such things, they and the leading
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priests sent temple guards to arrest Jesus.
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But Jesus told them, I will be with you only a little longer,
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then I will return to the one who sent me.
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You will search for me, but not find me.
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And you cannot go where I'm going.
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The Jewish leaders were puzzled by the statement.
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Where is he planning to go? They asked is he thinking of
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leaving the country and going to the Jews in other lands?
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Maybe he will even teach the Greeks.
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What does he mean when he says he will search for me but not
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find me? And you cannot go where I'm
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going? On the last day, the climax of
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the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds.
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Anyone who is thirsty may come to me.
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Anyone who believes in me may come and drink.
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For the Scriptures declare rivers of living water will flow
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from his heart. When he said living water, he
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was Speaking of the Spirit who would be given to everyone
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believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been
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given, because Jesus had not yet entered into His glory.
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When the crowds heard him say this, some of them declared
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Surely this man is the prophet we've been expecting, others
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said. He is the Messiah, still others
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said. But he can't be.
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Well, the Messiah come from Galilee, for the Scriptures
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clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line
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of David in Bethlehem, the village where King David was
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born said the crowd was divided about him.
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Some even wanted him arrested, but no one laid a hand on him.
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When the temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus,
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the leading priests and Pharisees demanded, Why didn't
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you bring him in? We have never heard anyone speak
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like this. The guards responded.
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Have you been LED astray to the Pharisees?
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Mocked. Is there a single one of us
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rulers or Pharisees who believes in Him?
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This foolish crowd follows him, but they are ignorant of the
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law. God's curses on them.
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Then Nicodemus, the leader who had met with Jesus earlier,
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spoke up. Is it legal to convict a man
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before he is given a hearing? He asked.
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They replied, Are you from Galilee too?
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Search the scriptures and see for yourself.
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No prophet ever comes from Galilee.
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Jesus, thank you for cutting right through to the truth.
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Thank you that when we get bogged down with details and
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rules, you talk from the heart as here you point out the folly
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of these rules about the Sabbath, but instead you point
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to love and inclusion. And God's will was for us to be
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well and to find rest and to enjoy our lives knowing that He
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is the provider. That you are the provider, Lord,
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and we get so confused by all the complications that we add to
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your words. But here we have your words.
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So simple and so fresh that you are the living water, and that
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you will give us your Spirit, and that from your Spirit will
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pour life giving water for us. Thank you Jesus for the gift of
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your Spirit. Come Holy Spirit, may that life
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giving water flow from us to shape and change the world
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around us with your radical presence and love.
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You are truly glorious and we adore you.
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And it's in your name that we pray, Jesus, Amen.