I no longer call you servants…Instead, I have called you friends,
for everything that I learned from my Father
I have made known to you.
John 15:15
How can it be that our Lord calls us His friends? It is an overwhelming thought to realize that through faith in Christ, we not only have a Savior, but a faithful friend who will never leave us or forsake us. He loved us so much that He gave his life for us. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Certainly we have the greatest friend of all in Christ. What a privilege to know that we can fellowship with Him anytime. We can go to Him with our cares and concerns as well as our joy and thankfulness.
Jesus commanded us as His followers to love each other in the same way we are loved by Him. Christ loves us with a sacrificial and forgiving love. Because we have been loved with such undeserved yet unending faithful love, we in turn can freely and sacrificially love others. Relish the grace-filled love Jesus has for you today, and reflect His love as you live and deal with others.
Questions to Ponder:
What difference does it make in your life to know that Jesus is your friend?
In what ways are you reflecting Christ’s love in the relationships around you?
Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you
And who you are speaking to, you would ask me,
and I would give you living water.”
John 4:10
Have you ever eaten something salty and then for the next few hours you can’t get enough water? Figuratively speaking, there are many salty things in this world. Interests and desires that make us thirsty for acceptance and fulfillment. We try to satisfy the thirst in a variety of unsatisfying ways, through people, or things or addictions. There is only one who can quench the thirsts that this salty world creates, and that is Christ alone. He is the Living Water. When we look to Him to quench our desire, we thirst no more.
The woman at the well tried to find fulfillment in husband after husband. Jesus knew her deepest needs and told her, “Those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” Oh the joy and satisfaction Jesus brings to our thirsty hearts! Take your thirsts to Him.
How fickle the crowds were. How fickle I can be. The crowds adored Him on Palm Sunday, and by Friday, they were yelling, “Crucify Him!” Yet, in my own life, it is easy to praise Him when things go well, and become angry when life goes sour. What I so easily forget is that God has a plan, and sometimes it includes hard things.
Hundreds of years before Jesus entered humanity in a trough cradle, the prophet Isaiah spoke about the Messiah’s purpose and His sorrows:
Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:1-6, NIV)
Clearly, God had an intentional plan from the very beginning. A plan to rescue and redeem humanity. A plan of forgiveness for all who believe. Christ’s death wasn’t a mistake or an afterthought, it was a Good Plan. In fact, later in this same passage, Isaiah reassured God’s people:
But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. (Isaiah 53:10,11, NLT)
God’s good plan included both pain and victory. Jesus’ death on the cross was deliberate and purposeful. Because He loves us, He gave His life on our behalf. Our response is to believe and to trust Him.
This Holy week, as we observe His loving and ultimate sacrifice, let us fall to our knees in worship and thanksgiving. Let us proclaim this good news to all who will hear. And let us recognize that God has a good plan, not only for humanity, but for our lives personally. He can redeem even our biggest troubles.
Reflective questions:
In what area of your life do you need to trust God’s good plan for you?
Do you believe Jesus gave His life on your behalf?
The beauty of Spring spurs in us a sense of newness and hope. This week in particular gives us renewed joy as we celebrate Christ’s victory over death. We are reminded that no matter how dark the day, God brings light and redeems what seems broken. As we reflect on the powerful stories of this week, let us find renewed love and gratitude for all God is doing in our lives.
Take some time to pause and ponder the events of Holy Week. The triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the last supper with His disciples, Jesus washing their feet, the prayer in the garden, and His arrest. The turn of the crowd shouting, “Crucify Him!” The agony of the cross and the mocking voices, “Save yourself!” His declaration, “It is finished.”
And it was finished. He had paid the price for our sins. A loving sacrifice. But the story was far from over. On the third day, He arose. The angels declared it, the women proclaimed it, His disciples believed it (except for Thomas who eventually came around). Victory over death – a glorious hope for all who believe!
How do we participate in this story? We begin with faith in the Son of God, Jesus, who loved us and gave himself for us. We continue by praising Him and thanking Him. Rejoicing in the fact that He gives us forgiveness of sins, life everlasting, and hope for each day.
We joyfully grow in a love relationship with Him. He is not far off. He is near. His Spirit who dwells within us is our helper who guides us and gives us strength. This week, let us relish the fact that we are never alone. The living and eternal God loves us and is with us.
Holy Week brings our focus in to who Jesus is and why He came to this earth. God doesn’t want us to be confused about Christ. Jesus Christ’s deity is central to our Christian foundation and beliefs. If you believe that Jesus was just a nice man or a wise prophet or a good angel, then you are missing the very essence of Christianity. Paul, in His letter to the Colossians, made it clear that Jesus was all man and all God. There is no one else who fits that description. Christ is the one and only God in human form. Immanuel, God with us, sent to this world to offer His life for us.
In Colossians 1, we see one of the strongest statements in all of scripture as to the divine nature of Christ. He is supreme over all creation and over all spiritual beings. He is the one who created us and sustains us. As this passage paints a true picture of Jesus in vibrant color, I see the power and the beauty of the One in whom I have placed my trust. I know I can safely and confidently place my life and my future in Him. Here’s what Paul wrote about Jesus:
He is the visible image of the invisible God.
He is the firstborn (supreme) over all creation.
By Him all things were created.
He existed before everything else began.
He holds all creation together.
He is the Head of the church.
He is the firstborn of all who will rise from the dead.
In everything He has the supremacy – He is supreme over all, the first in everything.
All God’s fullness dwells in Him and through Him.
God reconciled all things through Christ, by making peace through His blood shed on the cross.
Take a moment to ponder each of these descriptions of Jesus throughout the week this week, and praise Him for who He is.
Praise you Father, Son and Holy Spirit, God three in One. There is no other. You are the God of all creation, the beginning and the end. Loving, Merciful, all-wise God, all glory and honor belong to You. You are before all things, and by You all things exist. Thank you God for caring about me. I am honored to be called your daughter. Glorious God, thank you for letting me know you through your son Jesus. Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty, You are the One Who was and is and is to come.
A portion of this blog is an excerpt from Karol’s book A Woman’s Secret to Confident Living.
Positive Woman Connection 