SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/19/2016 5:07 AM
My Worship Time
Focus: The Perplexity of His
Men
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: John 12:16
Message of the verses: “16 These things His disciples did not
understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered
that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to
Him.”
Let us
begin this rather short SD by looking at a similar verse found in John 2:22 “So
when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this;
and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.” Both of these verses show us that the
disciples of Jesus did not truly understand what was happening in the life of
Jesus Christ until after He was raised from the dead, and possibly this
understanding did not happen to them until they received the Holy Spirit on the
Day of Pentecost. The disciples of Jesus
Christ, including Judas though that He would bring in the kingdom promised to
them from the Lord the first time He came, as they did not see the necessity of
His coming to die for their sins and the sins of all the world. After His resurrection and the coming of the
Holy Spirit they understood the OT prophecies that were related to His first
coming, things like the 22nd Psalm, and Isaiah 52-53, which graphically
shows the suffering of the Messiah.
Jesus
promised that He would send a Comforter which speaks of the Holy Spirit to them
so that they would be able to remember and to understand what was happening
while He was on the earth. Think about
how long after the resurrection of Jesus Christ that John wrote the gospel of
John, as he was a old man when he penned his gospel and so it was the Holy
Spirit who brought back the memories to him that He wanted him to write about
as Jesus promised that He would do for them.
“"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My
name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I
said to you (John 14:26).” “"But
when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for
He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak;
and He will disclose to you what is to come (John 16:13).”
John
MacArthur concludes this chapter in his commentary by writing the
following: “Jesus was a King like no
other. Instead of the pomp and
circumstances associated with earthly kings, He was meek and lowly (Matt.
11:29); instead of defeating His enemies by force, He conquered them by dying
(Heb. 2:14; cf. Eph. 1:19-22; Col. 2:15).
But through He was despised and rejected at His first advent (Isa.
53:3), Jesus Christ will one day return as the all-conquering King of Kings and
Lord of Lords (Rev. 10:11-16), who will shatter His enemies and destroy them
with a fierce and final judgment (Ps. 2:9; Rev. 19:15). Just as He perfectly fulfilled all of the Old
Testament prophecies regarding His first coming, so He will also come again in
exactly the manner foretold by Scriptures.”
“11 They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into
the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in
just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven’ (Acts. 1:11).”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I began to attend a different Sunday school
class where our teacher is taking us through the book of Habakkuk, and there
are some similar things at the beginning of that OT book that relate to the
fact that the disciples of Jesus did not understand what Jesus was doing and
Habakkuk did not understand what God was doing either. In the same light I surely do not understand
what the Lord is doing in my life all of the time, especially with the problems
that I face with IBS. I look at my older
SD’s as I put them on the blog and read things from 14 years ago about the same
problems that I still am facing. Just as
Habakkuk did not understand what the Lord was doing and the disciples of Jesus
did not understand what He was doing so I do not understand what He is doing in
my life, but like Habakkuk at the end of his book writes “16 I heard and my
inward parts trembled, At the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones,
And in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress,
For the people to arise who will invade us. 17 Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no
fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields
produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be
no cattle in the stalls, 18 Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the
God of my salvation. 19 The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my
feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places (Hab.:16-19a).”
My Steps of Faith for
Today: Continue to trust the Lord
even though I don’t always know what He is doing in my life.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “Genesis.”
Today’s Bible question:
“What was Abel’s occupation?”
Answer in our next SD.
9/19/2016 5:38 AM
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