PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
37 But
though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were
not believing in Him. 38 This
was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: “Lord, who
has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 39 For this reason they could not
believe, for Isaiah said again, 40 “He
has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, so that they would not
see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and be converted and I
heal them.” 41 These
things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.42 Nevertheless many even of the
rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not
confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue;43 for they loved the approval
of men rather than the approval of God.
44 And Jesus
cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in
Him who sent Me. 45 He who
sees Me sees the One who sent Me. 46 I
have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me
will not remain in darkness. 47 If
anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I
did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 He who rejects Me and does not
receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will
judge him at the last day. 49 For
I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has
given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. 50 I know that His
commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as
the Father has told Me.” (John 12:37-50, NASB)
REFLECTIONS:
I always marvel at the obstinacy of some people. No matter how much you try to reason and
plead with them, they will not hear whatever you have to say. How much will it take for them to believe? I have pondered this question over the
years. In this passage the Bible reveals
a few answers. Isaiah says that BOTH SEEING
and HEARING are required for receiving Truth.
How many times have you told your kids to do something, they heard it
and that’s the last of it. They
forgot. It just went right past
them. It wasn’t until they perceived
with their hearts, that the thing you said would be done or parts of their
anatomy would be subjected to pain, that they finally got it. They perceived. The word got down into their heart and they
realized it was going to impact their posterior world if the word was not received. Simple analogy, but most of us do the same
thing. We hear it and go on our way and
that is the last of it. We don’t try to UNDERSTAND
very much. Understanding is hard
work. It takes a few minutes out of your
day and usually a quieting of your mind for hearing to be transformed into
seeing or perceiving. It may even take a
little investigation or study of the matter to bring us to true
discernment. In our busy world, it is
easy to see that we run on overdrive all the time and never take a serious look
at Truth and hence we do not really SEE.
The flip side is true as well. Due to how we were raised,
what kind of childhood we grew up in and just the tendencies we have in our personalities,
most of us tend to put Truth into our neat little box and when someone comes
along and wants us to open the box to put something new in, we resist. We hear but we immediately discern that it
doesn’t fit into our box. It is
summarily dismissed. The Pharisees were
like this. They had a strict set of
rules and Jesus simply did not fit into those rules. In fact, he didn’t fit anything that they
believed, so he was viewed as someone who needed to be taken out of the
equation. It shook their box and they
were holding on tight. What was even
worse is that their box was subjected to the people as law and they were able
to control the people that were under their authority with their version of the
Truth. They kept THEM from receiving
what God wanted to give as well. No
further discernment was allowed beyond their authority. Questioning the belief system was simply not
tolerated. Therefore, understanding was
non-existent. That is why they did not discern who Jesus
was.
All of these examples cause harm to ourselves and to others
because it keeps us from getting a new, fresh word from God that would bring
LIFE to us. But Jesus does not stop
there, it gets even worse. In verse 48,
Jesus says, “He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who
judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.” God has given Jesus the words that make us
accountable for what we believe. We will
be judged ultimately for what we have heard, perceived and the action we have
taken because of it.
Sobering thoughts…
but Jesus does not leave us there… there is always a promise behind every
commandment. The one behind this one is
HEALING! Isaiah says this, “be converted
and I heal them.”
The word converted here is the same word for REPENT or TURN
AROUND. We need to repent of our obstinacy
and fitting God into what we want him to be instead of what and who he really
is. An admonition to all of us is to be
like a Berean. Paul says this about them
in Acts 17:10-12:
The brethren immediately sent Paul
and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went
into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded
than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great
eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were
so. Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent
Greek women and men.
They received the word then tested it against scripture and
perceived it was right. Paul says they
were noble people because of this. Here
are a few definitions for noble:
- possessing outstanding qualities of high birth or exalted rank
- possessing very high or excellent qualities or properties
- characterized by, or arising from superiority of mind or character or of ideals or morals
This is an interesting word to me because it is a word
having to do with rank and progression.
It shows we can improve our standing in the Kingdom and the sky is the
limit if we will just SEE and HEAR. I
know this to be true. I have sat with
older saints and they are wiser way beyond their years of life. They SEE the Kingdom and you can feel the
Spirit just by sitting with them. You
walk away refreshed even without a word, because the Truth lives in them.
POINT OF ACTION:
What WORD is God trying to say to you today? Did the word jump off the page onto you? God is trying to get your attention. Are you having dreams or visions? God talks to some in this manner. Ask someone about it. Get a study partner. You will be amazed how God will confirm
things you are hearing with someone you are studying the word with. Get hold of an older saint and have them pray
for you…God wants to speak… and for heaven’s sake don’t turn it off just
because you don’t understand. You may have
a piece that fits with someone else’s that will bring salvation to someone or a
truth that could help all mankind. Don’t
limit God, he has Great Things in store for you to perceive.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, open our eyes to see and our ears to hear the
words of LIFE You want to speak into us today, into our situations, into our
hearts. Don’t let us miss any of
them. My Life and maybe someone else’s
may be at stake. Open our eyes to see
that the angels are ascending and descending on us to give us words of life and
impartations that will HEAL us.
I am June Criner, and I have just returned from David
Droman’s Celebration of Life. I am
sitting here trying to finish this devotional and I am reminded, as many
attested at the memorial service, that David spoke life to many people over the
course of his life. He was a thinker of
the highest degree, a perceiver, and you always felt like he was trying to understand
you. Now he is no longer discerning in a
glass darkly, but face to face… mmm, wow, what power and substance is his
today!!! FULLY UNDERSTANDING AND BEING
FULLY UNDERSTOOD!!! Wow!!
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