John 8: 21-38

So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” 

They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” As he was saying these things, many believed in him. 

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”

Jesus began his ministry and performing miracles. He fed the five thousand people and he walked on water to show the people that He is trustworthy and capable of taking care of them. Jesus then explained that He was there not only to satisfy their physical hunger, but their spiritual hunger. Jesus said that He is the bread and the wine for their souls. Moreover, Jesus said that His words are spirit and truth. Jesus further explained that He did not come to condemn, like the Pharisees did, but to save.

We learn from this passage about Jesus:

• Jesus is from heaven; we are from earth
• We will die to our sins
• Believing in Jesus = we will not die
• God tells us who He is through Jesus
• Jesus does what God wants

We learn from this passage about us:

• Jesus will tell us the truth
• The truth will set us free
• We are not free because we are sinful
• Jesus will set us free

Jesus is making two important metaphors about who He is:

• Jesus wants you to be satisfied in Him
• Jesus wants to set you free from sin

God please help me be satisfied in You today. Especially when we have a test tomorrow, and we may get anxiety or stress from worrying about getting a good grade or not knowing enough. Help us not be satisfied only by a good grade, but to be satisfied by who You are. Please help us have an identity that isn't earned like grades, but is given to us. You set us free from working for our worth and value. You set us free from being burdened by sin and selfish motives and the burden of taking care of ourselves. You care for us. You set us free. You are trustworthy.

Please bless my parents with a satisfaction in You, please bless my siblings with a desire to seek You, please bless Jisoo's family with healing and forgiveness, please bless her siblings with health and blessings today. Please bless Thi with a sense of belonging and deep relationship, please set Sean free, from self-condemnation and sin. I love You and I am thankful that I met with You this morning. Jisoo says hi.

John 8: 12-20

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

Jesus fed the five thousand and walked on water to show us that He is trustworthy and that He cares for our needs. Jesus also cares for our spiritual needs. Jesus explains that He is the bread and wine they have been looking for. Just as God had provided manna from heaven to satisfy their physical hunger, God has provided Jesus as the bread and wine to satisfy their spiritual hunger. If people believe in Christ, they will have eternal life. If people hear Jesus, Jesus's words will be spirit and life to them. Moreover, when we are satisfied in Jesus, we become "rivers of living water" by which we can satisfy other people through Jesus Christ in us. Jesus's words are true, no one has spoken truth like Him in human history. In practice, we see Jesus teaching the Pharisees that the law was not made so that we could condemn each other, but for us to know that sin separates us from each other and from God. We need a savior to save us.

We see Jesus patiently conversing with the Pharisees, teaching them to understand truth and to avoid incorrect thinking about God. Jesus makes three important points:

1. Jesus is the light of the world; and gives the light of life
2. Jesus judges no one, but has all the right to judge
3. Knowing Jesus is knowing God the Father

The Jews judge by the flesh. In the previous case with the woman adulterer, the Jews wanted to condemn and punish a woman for her sin. Jesus saves her instead of condemning her. We see Jesus making the point explicitly here. The Jews "judge according to the flesh." Moreover, they do not believe Christ as having the truth.

Lord, I pray two things:

• That I believe Your words to be true
• That I live Your words as truth; following You because You are the light in my life by which I can see clearly

Father, I feel a heaviness this morning. Am I treasuring other things or people in my life more than You? Am I find satisfaction in other people than You? Father, You created the universe, You crafted my soul, You are God and have every right to do as You please. I also know that You have a Son by which we know You through Him. His words are true, and they say that He is the light of the world by which we can walk and live our lives through. Help light my life. Help me in my darkness and cloudiness and emotions and sin. My selfish desires cloud my judgment and my focus. Help me remember what Jesus says.

I pray that I believe I will be blessed, a crown of righteousness won by Christ, if I remain steadfast under trial. I pray that I make first things first. I trust You with my future, my missions career, my residency, my step 1, my exam on Monday, the saving of my family and friends, and my relationship with Jisoo. I pray You will help me lover her purely and patiently and unconditionally. I pray that I love You with all my heart and with all my soul, strength, and mind. You are my first love.

John 8: 2-11

Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” 

Jesus fed the five thousand and walked on water. He showed us that He is trustworthy and capable of caring for our needs. Jesus explains that he wants to not just satisfy their physical needs but their spiritual needs. Jesus Himself is the bread and wine they are searching for. If they believe Him, they will have everlasting life. Moreover, if they listen, Jesus's words are spirit and life to them. If we believe and are satisfied by Jesus, we are able to satisfy other people's hearts through the living water of Jesus. No one has ever spoken truth like Him.

In these verses we see Jesus handle the testing of the Jews. The Jews want to condemn a woman for her adultery. Jesus however, does not fail their test. He rather, teaches them through His actions, about themselves and how they use the law.

In our world, we sometimes use God's laws to condemn people. We judge them. We hate them. We use the laws of God as a means to our selfish ends. However, Jesus came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. Jesus came not to rebel against the law, but to show people how they were meant to follow it, and thus receive greater joy when they follow the law.

Jesus reverses their judgement, but showing them that they themselves are sinful. They have the right to judge the woman if they have no sin. But they do. In fact, this situation, teaches the Jews, and myself, that the law was made so that we know what sin is. The law was not made so that we can condemn each other. The law was made so that we know we need a savior to save us from sin.

I pray that I do not judge my friends, family, Jisoo, or myself anymore. I do not want the burden of making perfect judgment, I do not want the burden to condemn people. I want to know that I am a sinner that was saved by the grace and love of God. I have no right to condemn. Jesus has every right to condemn, but instead of judging, he came to save.

Lord, please bless my friends, my parents, sister, brother with words of truth that only come from You. Please help me focus and stay awake for Your glory as I study. Please forgive me as I look to You for wisdom and mercy and grace, having faith in Jesus's finished work on the cross.

John 7: 40-52

When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. 

The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”

Jesus fed the five thousand and walked on water to show the people that He is trustworthy and that He cares for His people's needs. However, Jesus also explains He came not to just satisfy their physical needs, but to give them eternal life with eternally satisfying bread and wine that is His own body. Jesus's words are spirit and life. If we believe in Jesus we are satisfied and we are even able to satisfy other people's hearts through the living water of Jesus.

Jesus's miracles and words of truth are shaking the people's and Jews's understanding of God. We see that some people hear Jesus's words and understand Him as "prophet" and "Christ" or messiah. Other people, the Pharisees and authorities, hear Jesus's words and want to "arrest Him." They tell others that they are deceived.

Lord today I pray that I hear Your words and understand them. I pray may I really believe in the power and might and authority of Your words. I pray that I really see how big You are, and remember that no one has ever spoken truth like you! Give me a fresh heart with fresh understanding of Your word! Oh Lord, please help me recognize You during the day, and to acknowledge Your presence!

Please pray for Sean, for Him to find security in You and that You love Him for who He is, not by what He does, but by what Jesus had done. Please bless Jisoo and me, with purity of heart, patience, wisdom, and humility. Please help us study well. Please mature and love Victor so much. Please give peace to my parents, love for my brother, and sight for my sister today.

John 7: 25-39

Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.” So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?” 

The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?” 

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Jesus explains earlier that He is the bread of life that will satisfy them forever. Jesus came not just to satisfy them physically through miracles or healing, but Jesus came to satisfy their souls with everlasting life. Jesus's words are truth, spirit, and life.

Here we see that Jesus explains that He is from God, and that God sent Him. Jesus knows God, in a way that the Jews do not know. Moreover, Jesus will one day be gone. In this context: that Jesus knows God's will and will soon be gone, Jesus tells the people that He will fulfill all thirst if one comes to Him.

We learn a new thing in this passage: that when we are satisfied in Jesus, out of our hearts will flow living water. This equates to: when we are satisfied in Jesus, we are able to satisfy other people's hearts through our living water of Jesus Christ.

I pray today that I am satisfied in You Jesus. I offer my life to You Jesus. I thank You for caring and guiding my friends. Thank You for satisfying Jisoo's heart with Your own, thank You for satisfying my heart with Your own. Please help my parents, sister, and brother be satisfied in You. Please help me focus in time and energy to studying today. Thank You for the weather.

John 7: 1-24

After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. Now the Jews' Feast of Booths was at hand. So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” For not even his brothers believed in him. Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” After saying this, he remained in Galilee. 

But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him. 

About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?” The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

Jesus's ministry consists about miracles and teachings. Jesus explains that He is the Son of God and has equality with Him, even in the authority to judge. Moses, Scripture, John the Baptist, and God Himself testify this truth. Jesus then feeds the five thousand and walks on water to show the people that He has the power of God and even the trustworthiness of God. Jesus explains that He wants to not just fulfill them physically, but to satisfy their eternal souls with eternal bread and water which is His body. If Jesus is the eternally satisfying food they need, Jesus's words are also "spirit and life."

The feast of booths is a time for the Jews to remember how they lived in booths after their escape from Egypt. After many disciples left after hearing Jesus proclaim to be eternal food, Jesus stays in Galilee, not celebrating with the others in public (in Judea?). Jesus states it is not the right time.

But Jesus goes to the feast and temple later to teach. The Jews question Jesus because they know He has no formal training like the priests and Pharisees. Jesus teaches them several things:

• Jesus's teachings are from God, not from Himself
• If one's will is to do God's will and to seek His glory, then he will know Jesus's teachings are true
• We are to judge with right judgment instead of appearances

Today, I pray that God help me see Jesus's words as equal to Yours, to accept them as spirit and truth, and to fully respect their power and spirit. I pray that I be patient like Jesus today. I pray that I seek God's will and God's glory so that I hear truth and speak truth to people, rather than my own words. I pray that I judge with Jesus-like judgment, not to condemn but to save.

Please bless Jisoo with knowledge of who You are today. Help us both study and focus. Help my family seek God's heart and be satisfied in Him. I pray for healing and faith in Your saving power in Jisoo's family. I pray for faith You are working in my friends to let them know who You are. Please bless the victims of the tornadoes in America.

John 6: 52-71

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. 

The Words of Eternal LifeWhen many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” 

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him.

Jesus started His ministry and performed miracles. He explains that He is equal to God and has the same authority to judge. Moses, the Scriptures, John the Baptist, and God Himself testify that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus feeds the five thousand and then walks on water to show people that He has not only God's power, but that Jesus is trustworthy and capable of carrying their needs. Jesus then explains that He came to not just give them what they want, but what they need and even more! Jesus did not come just to give food, but to become food that will satisfy them forever.

Jesus then expounds about what will happen if they eat this "bread of life":

• If you don't eat it, you will have no life in you
• If you do eat it, you will have eternal life
• You will be raised up on the last day
• What you eat is "true"
• You will then abide in Jesus, and Jesus will abide in you
• You will live forever

Secondly, we learn about Jesus's words:

• Jesus's words are spirit and life
• Jesus's words have eternal life

In a third minor point, we see that Jesus and the Holy Spirit work in predestination, upholding God's sovereignty and total power in all things. Jesus chooses. God chooses. Yet at the same time, we have free will and we are responsible for our own choices.

Lord, I pray that I may not just say these are "hard" teachings, but when I admit Your hard teachings, I in faith allow the Holy Spirit to extend me believe these hard truths. I know and acknowledge Your divine power, so I am thankful and believe in the words of Jesus Christ, that if I call on Him and accept His gift, I am saved and I live to be His disciple.

I pray that I remember that today, is when I relearned that the Holy Spirit, God's word, and spirit filled actions are powerful! When something is gifted by God, when an action has the Holy Spirit working in it, it is powerful! It can change lives! It is supernaturally effective! God's word is sharper than any two-edged sword, it can divide even the flesh and spirit. Moreover, Jesus's words and flesh, are not just physical but have spiritual power in more things than we can see!

I pray that I remember these two things. I pray that I remember what is "true" bread and drink. That eating is a picture of God's relationship with us: we have a hunger, God has/is what will satisfy us.

I pray that I will believe and be satisfied in Jesus tonight and this week. I pray that I will trust God will all my desires and wants, rather than seeking to satisfy them instantly. I pray that I will be wise and respectful of Jisoo this week, in love and faith and patience and especially forgiveness. I pray to be a MAN OF GOD, to her and to my friends, and to Jesus this week. I pray for a heart that seeks You in my parents, I pray for courageous hearts in my brother and sister. Please protect Van and Esther and encourage them to focus tonight's studying. I love You God! I offer You my life!