SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/24/2016 10:40 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 The Savior’s Provision for an
Invitation to All
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: John 12:23-26
Message of the verses: “23 And Jesus answered them, saying,
"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 “Truly, truly, I
say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains
alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 “He who loves his life loses it,
and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. 26 “If
anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be
also; if anyone serves Me, the
Father will honor him.”
Now in our
last SD we talked about illusions being shattered for those who thought that
Jesus was going to usher in the Kingdom at that time, and the reason that they
were shattered was because of what is seen in verse 24, for in this verse we
see a difference in how the Lord Jesus Christ would be glorified, not by
ushering in the Kingdom but by dying for the sins of the world so that those
who would accept His forgiveness through His death could then be able to come
into the kingdom. The kingdom that we
now live in could be described as an invisible kingdom, but this invisible
kingdom is very much visible to the Lord.
The Millennial Kingdom which will begin shortly after the Tribulation
period is over will be a visible kingdom, one that all of those who have been
born again in this invisible kingdom will participate in. I just posted an older blog from December of
2002 from Hebrews 2:5 which spoke of we are now lower than the angels who rule
this earth, which is speaking of the unholy angels along with the holy angels
who come to our aid when we do not even realize it, but believers will be over
angels in the Millennial age, along with in eternity. Paul even says that we will rule over angels
in 1 Cor. Chapter six.
Ok it is
time to get back on track from what we are learning from John’s gospel and we
see that Jesus is talking about His death in verse 24 when He talks about a
grain of wheat going into the earth, and while there it dies and then once it
dies new life is given to it and a plant grows up having many more grains of
wheat on it. Think about an acorn that
is produced from a giant oak tree, the acorn goes into the earth, perhaps even
planted by a squirrel who plans to dig it up during the winter, but perhaps the
squirrel is getting a bit older and forgets where he buried all of his nuts and
so this one dies and a small oak tree sprouts up from this forgotten
acorn. Fifty years later we see a giant
oak tree where many more acorns have been produced by it and many more oak
trees have begun life from that one forgotten acorn that was planted fifty
years ago. Jesus is saying that because
of His death and then burial and then resurrection will come many more lives
who have believed in Him who then tell others about this amazing Savior and
then they become believers who tell others and it goes on and on because of
what Jesus did. MacArthur writes “Anyone
who thinks that Jesus came to offer the kingdom to Israel without the cross,
and thinks the cross was only a reaction because of Israel’s unbelief is a
fool. That is the very word Jesus used
to describe that assumption. He said to
the disciples on the road to Emmaus, ‘25 And He said to them, "O foolish men and slow of
heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 “Was it not necessary
for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?" 27
Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the
things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.’” I have often though about verse 27 whishing
that I could have heard that sermon from Jesus.
As we think
about those Greeks that wanted to see Him, He gave a wonderful sermon of hope
for them which is a picture of the gentiles coming to know Him latter on.
We will continue to look at this section in our next SD as
we look at this truth with an general invitation that illustrates the heart
attitude which is required of one who receives His wonderful gift of salvation,
and this will be a very important part of these verses.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I believe it is Paul who talks about Jesus
being the “first fruit” speaking of His resurrection, and I am thankful for the
truth that is in verse 24 speaking of Jesus dying so that I may live and not
only live but tell others of this amazing gift He offers to those who will
accept it.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: “but sanctify Christ as Lord
in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you
to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;”
Memory verse for the week:
(Romans 6:12) “12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that
you obey its lusts;”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “Samaria” (John 4:3-4).
Today’s Bible question:
“Who followed Solomon as king?”
Answer in our next SD.
9/24/2016 11:31 AM
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