I don't know about you, but that name gives me chills... I AM. In the Greek, it's Ego eimi. God the Father referred to himself as I AM several times in scripture, and Jesus (Yahweh) did it too. But one of the most moving and spine chilling times, in my opinion, is in John 8:57-58. The Jews had been challenging Jesus since the beginning of chapter 8 when He told them "I am...

John 8:31-47 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doe...

John 8:21-30 I had a good facepalm moment the other day. I found myself in an argument with my three year old daughter, slowly descending to her level of maturity. Being a new Dad has been awesome, and one of the things that I have learned so far is that it's not enough to just tell your children how to behave, you have to demonstrate it. I think people in general learn b...

John 8:12-20 Jesus begins speaking to the people saying "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life." The Pharisees knew that according to Isaiah 42:6 49:6 Jesus was saying he was the Messiah. And they were outraged that Jesus would make such a claim. Why do you think they were so ...

One of my favorite stories in the Bible! Its real life! I can relate big time to the lame man, in the book of John. I may not have been physically lame. I was lame spiritually and lame with all my excuses. This man was 38 years lame. I was 38 years lame in my excuses! Paralyzed in thoughts and action. Afraid of "being" well. Like the lame man only knowing beggy and being s...

We have all seen those milk commercials on TV; a man suddenly realizes that he is in the afterlife after getting hit by a truck (or something like that) and he is surrounded by tons of chocolate chip cookies, all he can eat! Surely, he must be in heaven. Then after stuffing his face with cookies, he reaches for the milk carton, dah dah dahempty! Nooooo!!!! I'm thirsty just...

From John 5:16-47 It gave me no small amount of joy to read as Jesus tells the religious leaders that he has no time for their particular Sabbath standards; he is too busy getting stuff done. At the risk of making a ridiculous comparison, I will admit that the image in my head was of a scene from the show Mad Men in which the character Peggy Olson shows up at her new NY...

From John 6:1-24 I'm reminded of today's Bible reading by lyrics from the song "Storm" by the group"Lifehouse" (excerpts below): How long have I been in this storm? So overwhelmed by the ocean's shapeless form Water's getting harder to tread With these waves crashing over my head ... I know you didn't bring me out here to drown So why am I ten feet under and upside down...

From John 4:27-42 After Jesus spoke with the Samaritan woman at the well and "told her everything she ever did", his disciples returned. Verse 27 states that the disciples "were shocked to find Jesus talking to a woman." According to Rabbinical law, men were not to speak to women in public. It was considered beneath their dignity. The teaching of the law was reserved for ...

From John 1:19-34 There is no better place to start a study of the Gospel of John then in the book of Genesis. As Abraham and Isaac walked up the mountain to offer a sacrifice to the Lord in Genesis 22, Isaac asked, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham said, "God...

From John 1:35-42. "And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas (Aramaic)" (which translates Greek Petros/Peter which means rock). John 1:42 John 1:35-42 begins with John the Baptist proclaiming that Jesus is the Lamb of God. John the Baptist's disciples hear him proclaim Jesus as the Lamb of God and th...

From John 2:1-12. Today's reading tells the story of Jesus' first miracle. When I read this passage a few things stuck out to me. First of all, I noticed that Jesus' mother seemed to encourage him to perform this miracle. Good old mom was one of the first to notice that the wine at the wedding had run out. She knows that Jesus has the power to fix this problem, but why wo...

From John 3:22-36. "He must become greater; I must become less." For me verse 30 is the most compelling of John 3:22-36, but this wasn't always so. In fact I had read it many times without it making much of an impact on me. Then, several years ago, I was doing some personal devotions in John and perused this passage, and this verse, for probably the 20thor so time in my...

From John 4:1-26. In this Gospel, John shows us that Jesus is God, but he also showed us that Jesus really submitted to human limitations. So apparently the Father showed Jesus that it was time to leave Judea and go to Galilee; and he chose to go through Samaria actually He had to go through Samaria. The New King James version says "But He needed to go through Samaria"....