ERCC DEVOTIONAL (TEKAN) DAILY SPIRITUAL DIET; TUESDAY 3RD OCTOBER, 2023
TEXT: JOHN 5: 30 - 47.
SPIRITUAL FOCUS: JESUS IS THE TRUE JUDGE.
JOHN 5: 30 - 47 (GOOD NEWS).
30 “I can do nothing on my own authority; I judge only as God tells me, so my judgement is right, because I am not trying to do what I want, but only what he who sent me wants.
31“If I testify on my own behalf, what I say is not to be accepted as real proof.
32 But there is someone else who testifies on my behalf, and I know that what he says about me is true.
33 John is the one to whom you sent your messengers, and he spoke on behalf of the truth.
34 It is not that I must have a human witness; I say this only in order that you may be saved.
35John was like a lamp, burning and shining, and you were willing for a while to enjoy his light.
36 But I have a witness on my behalf which is even greater than the witness that John gave: what I do, that is, the deeds my Father gave me to do, these speak on my behalf and show that the Father has sent me.
37 And the Father, who sent me, also testifies on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his face,
38 and you do not keep his message in your hearts, for you do not believe in the one whom he sent.
39 You study the Scriptures, because you think that in them you will find eternal life. And these very Scriptures speak about me!
[40]Yet you are not willing to come to me in order to have life.
41 “I am not looking for human praise.
42 But I know what kind of people you are, and I know that you have no love for God in your hearts.
43 I have come with my Father's authority, but you have not received me; when, however, someone comes with his own authority, you will receive him.
44 You like to receive praise from one another, but you do not try to win praise from the one who alone is God; how, then, can you believe me?
45 Do not think, however, that I am the one who will accuse you to my Father. Moses, in whom you have put your hope, is the very one who will accuse you.
46 If you had really believed Moses, you would have believed me, because he wrote about me.
47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how can you believe what I say?”
Message
Yesterday's study confirmed that all who hear the voice of the Son of God, and obey it, will live in today's reading, just as children obey their parents, so Christ Jesus did to His Father.
He provides the strongest evidence that we should consider; "I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, so do I judge, and I do nothing of my own "(verse 30). The judgment of Christ is true, just and righteous because he is righteous. His testimony is therefore, greater than that of John (vs. 36). Certainly not only
His words but also His actions which are the evidence of His faithfulness. Sadly, his words and those of God the Father are not in the hearts of the Jews (vs. 38) because they think that studying the Scriptures is the key to gaining eternal life, while they do not know that they are bearing witness to Jesus. The books that the Jews boasted of were the Old Testament, that is, the Torah, the Psalms, and the Prophets. This is a fact; these books are all proofs and testimonies of Jesus (vs. 39).
Unfortunately, the Jews do this for nothing, but to praise themselves. Even today there are many people who, like the Jews, hold the Bible because they claim to be followers of Christ. This is hypocrisy.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: We should stop hypocrisy.
PRAYER: Lord God, I beseech You, help me to be Your true witness for the sake of Christ Jesus, Amen.
