Devotional Notes Psalm 120+John 8

Blogging will be rather sporadic as we are selling the house and moving.

MORNING

Psalm 120

B1 What does this mean?

C1 Deliver me from my lying lips and more likely those who lie about me/us.

C2 Compare Jeremiah: Jeremiah 20:10 NLT I have heard the many rumors about me. They call me "The Man Who Lives in Terror." They threaten, "If you say anything, we will report it." Even my old friends are watching me, waiting for a fatal slip. "He will trap himself," they say, "and then we will get our revenge on him."

C3 For many people the solution for a problem is murder.

B2 How do I apply this to my life?

C1 Turn to God for help.

C2 Know the truth.

C3 People will lie about us, and it hurts.

C4 Revenge is not for believers. Reporting a crime is not revenge.

EVENING

John 8

B1 What does this mean?

C1 Jesus and the Woman Caught in Adultery

D1 Some do not consider this to be genuinely Scripture, but for what it’s worth, Wilbur Pickering commenting on this verse: ...But why was the story omitted? Leading church father and theologian, Augustine (about A.D. 430), answers: “Certain persons of little faith, or rather enemies of the true faith, fearing, I suppose, lest their wives should be given impunity in sinning, removed from their manuscripts the Lord’s acts of forgiveness toward the adulteress, as if He who said ‘sin no more’ had granted permission to sin.” (See Augustine, “Adulterous Marriages” [2.7] trans. by Charles T. Huegelmeyer, in Saint Augustine: Treatises on Marriage and Other Subjects [New York: Fathers of the Church, 1955], p. 107.) [I took this material on Augustine from Living Water: The Gospel of John—Logos 21 Version, Absolutely Free Incorporated, p. 74.]

D2 Note how Jesus is desiring the crowd to acknowledge their own sins. The woman’s sins are now known, but the crowd was hiding their own sins. Sins can be committed in thoughts, desires, words, and deeds.

D3 From verse 4 it almost seems that this case was set up. Also note: Leviticus 20:10 NLT If a man commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, both the man and the woman who have committed adultery must be put to death.

D4 Note Jesus adhering to the Law (2 witnesses needed) and His mercy. He also warns her not to sin anymore so acknowledging her actions to be sinful. Deuteronomy 17:6 NIV On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.

C2 Pharisees Accuse Jesus of Having No Witnesses

D1 The Pharisees are correct about needing witnesses, but note how they reject Jesus’s witnesses.

D2 Verse 18, if nothing else see 2 Peter 1:17-18.

C3 Jesus Identifies Himself as God

D1 The Bridgeway Bible Commentary has this:

E1 Because the Jews could never get their minds above earthly things, they could never accept Jesus' claim that he came from God. By rejecting him they lost all chance of having their sins forgiven. They would die in their sins and thereby be excluded from heaven, the place to which Jesus would return after his death and resurrection (John 8:21-26).

E2 Most of the people still did not understand how Jesus could be the Son of God, but one day in the near future they would have clear proof. They would see Jesus die on the cross, but then, by the power of God, rise from the dead. This would be an unmistakable demonstration of the unity between the Father and the Son (John 8:27-29). Some who heard Jesus speak did not wait for the events he spoke of, but put their faith in him immediately (John 8:30).

D2 In reading the various witnesses from the 4 Gospels, we see a clearer picture of who Jesus is. Also, many prophets have spoken of Him.

C4 Jesus Exposes the People’s Sins

D1 The Scriptures are the only source of 100% truth.

D2 Sin is addictive. It is the natural state of humans to be sinners.

E1 Romans 3:23 EMTV for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,

E2 If our sin is not exposed, we will continue to believe that we are good people and are doing more good than evil. We must face the truth.

D3 The actions of Abraham are his believing God and how this believing is seen in the actions and decisions in his life.

D4 Barclay (be aware!) writes: Jesus' closeknit indictment goes on. He asks "Why do you not understand what I am saying?" The answer is terrible—not that they are intellectually stupid, but that they are spiritually deaf. They refuse to hear and they refuse to understand. A man can stop his ears to any warning; if he goes on doing that long enough, he becomes spiritually deaf. In the last analysis, a man will only hear what he wishes to hear; and if for long enough he attunes his ears to his own desires and to the wrong voices, in the end he will be unable to tune in at all to the wavelength of God. That is what the Jews had done.

D5 Verse 44 shows one reason people reject Christ Jesus. It is their love of sinful pleasures.

D6 Verse 46, Abraham did believe.

C5 Jesus Is the Great I AM

D1 I AM is the identity, character, and name of God.

D2 Passing through their midst, that is, they could not seize Him, should show them something special about Jesus.

B2 How do I apply this to my life? As noted above.

I hope to have a devotional every day on John’s Gospel starting with the last chapter of Luke’s Gospel. This is the way I do my devotions. You may notice grammatical and spelling errors. It is my hope you will also start or continue in your daily reading and thinking about the Scriptures. I do this Monday through Friday. It is a 3 year plan of reading and thinking on 1 chapter in the Old Testament, which takes 3 years, and reading and thinking on 1 chapter in the New Testament once a year for a total of 3 times. So, I read through the Old Testament 1 time and the New Testament 3 times over a period of 3 years. I do this Monday through Friday and use Saturday and Sunday for other devotions.