Terry Storch

Writing about life, leadership, faith, and anything else I find interesting.

John 10 - Stollen Abundance

 

John 10 - Stollen Abundance

Jesus is continuing to press on the religious leaders about their blindness. Its irony is thick that Jesus heals a blind man, gives him sight, and he believes Jesus is the Messiah...and yet the religious leaders see the miracle healing and are still spiritually blind. 

This again must be a warning sign to any of us who could fall into the religious leader camp, what spiritual blindness could we be faced with? What thoughts, beliefs, idols, religious dogma are we carrying around that is not in line with Jesus teaching? My guess is, it’s way more than we realize. 

Jesus brings a message to the Pharisees about being spiritually blind, and they didn’t get it. So, he transitions to an illustration of being the good shepherd with sheep, and they were still struggling. So, he lands with this:

“Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭10:6-11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus made it clear that: All who came before me were thieves and robbers. 

Jesus later says: The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. 

We typically hear John 10:10 referring to Satan as the thief. I am not arguing against that assessment or teaching. However, reading this in context and all of Jesus' words leave me more thinking that if it is Satan, it will be people that are influenced and used by Him. 

It might not be a popular topic or something we like to think about, but...how could Satan be using us? Could elements of our own spiritual blindness be impacting our witness? Maybe we are carrying baggage that is not teachings of Jesus that are preventing us to truly see Jesus as the Messiah. It’s really easy to read Jesus’ words and take it to the big evil Satan and His attacks on others or us and miss the possibility that we just might be the one who has been tricked and robbed. 

Jesus followed by saying: My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. 

In other translations is says: I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

The Greek word for ‘abundance,’ perissos, has a mathematical meaning and generally denotes a surplus. Jesus came that we may live in surplus, with more than enough, perissos. 

Take this thought in full context, all the way back to Jesus, trying to bring his point home with the religious leaders after he healed the blind man. Jesus brought abundance into this man's life, a life that before Jesus was darkness, blindness, and waywardness. When confronted by Jesus, this was the healed man said;

“He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭9:38‬ ‭ESV‬

Abundance is available to us today from Jesus. Jesus has come to bring light into our lives, to remove the scales from our eyes, and to walk and see as He does. What I am left contemplating is our salvation is secure, but our abundance is not. The abundant life today that Jesus came for can be robbed and stolen from us, unlike our salvation. Recognizing this, we must continually lean into Jesus and allow him to be our good shepherd and follow his excellent guidance. When we don’t, we can find ourselves blinded, and our abundance stollen. 

other writing
John 20 - The Gospel

John 20 - The Gospel

The Gospel, the Good News! Jesus, Son of God, was born of Mary, lived as the Son of Man, died, and rose to life to rescue the world and bring about a new life. The central message of the gospel. Jesus, the centerpiece! John 19 & 20 cover the brutal death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

In this scene, I can not imagine how the disciples felt. John describes them as overjoyed...but those words just fall short of what I can imagine this moment was like.

John 19 - The Magnitude of the Cross

John 19 - The Magnitude of the Cross

The day of Jesus' crucifixion fulfilled 28 Old Testament prophecies. Scripture was fulfilled! Beyond that, trying to wrap my mind around what happened this day, on the cross, and fully grabbing the magnitude of the cross is mind-boggling.

Sure, we can dumb this down or simplify it to a place where I just don’t believe it is anywhere near accurate. We can get into penal substitution and argue over was God full of love or was God full of wrath and hate that he killed his son. To me, John 3:16 is pretty clear on the love part.

John 18 - Jesus levels an army

John 18 - Jesus levels an army

In John 18, we come to the great betrayal. Judas came with the soldiers, officials, and chief priest and Pharisees. We know the scene. But this morning, I saw something I don’t remember reading and surly don’t remember learning about.

“So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭18:3-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 17 - The Lords Prayer

John 17 - The Lords Prayer

John 17 is Jesus looking heavenward and praying to God the Father. So much beauty and mystery in this prayer. One thing that jumps out to me is that Jesus, fully God, and fully man prayed. Jesus is God fully. Why did he need to pray, He was One with the Father, He was God...and yet he prayed. This is so powerful;

“And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭17:5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 16 - What does it take to believe?

John 16 - What does it take to believe?

By the end of John 16, Jesus had done countless miracles, preached some amazing sermons, transformed so many lives, and developed a close and personal relationship with his disciples. So, when reading these verses, I am just utterly confused on so many levels.

“I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.” “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭16:28-31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 16 - Undervaluing God in Spirit

John 16 - Undervaluing God in Spirit

Jesus’ time on earth is quickly coming to a close, and he finishes up his last sermon or teaching to his disciples as they walk to Gethsemane. This final teaching was a heavy one that no doubt left his disciples with a heavy heart. Jesus said it this way;

“...None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭16:5-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus goes on to say;

John 15 - Constant Growth

John 15 - Constant Growth

We were built for growth, constant growth. From birth, all the way until our death, we were designed by God for constant growth. The problem is, we often can find ourselves stuck in a belief, a phase, or a part of life where we stop growing.

One of the most brilliant investors embodies this understanding. Charlie Munger, at 96 years old, is still learning and growing as a person. I love this quote:

“Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant.”
- Charlie Munger

John 14 - The Gift of Peace

John 14 - The Gift of Peace

John 14 opens with Jesus, saying, Don’t let your hearts be troubled. And the chapter closed down with Jesus saying Don’t be troubled or afraid.

A message that needs to resonate with our spirit and our inner self. This was such a good reminder, reading through John 14 over and over. This passage lifted off the screen.

“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart…

John 14 - Troubled Hearts

John 14 - Troubled Hearts

The world today seems so volatile and chaotic. Everywhere you look, whatever we read and see on TV just seems to be troubling. Last night, I noticed my lovely wife Tweeted this;

“I can’t be the only one who watches the news and is simply embarrassed right now, right? (Dear Jesus, we tap out. Come on back.)”

I find this first humorous, but then I also find it sad. It’s true, watching the news as a Christ-follower is pretty embarrassing. In John 14, we see Jesus…

John 13 - Unselfish Concern

John 13 - Unselfish Concern

Summarizing John, chapter 13, looks like this. The Lords Supper takes place. Jesus washes the disciple's feet. Jesus calls out Judas, and Satan enters him. Night comes, Judas leaves, and Jesus says he must go, and where I am going, you can not come. To cap it all off, Jesus also calls out Simon Peter and tells him that he will deny and completely disown Jesus three times. Whoa, a really full chapter, and historical day.

Nestled in the wrap up of the day is the parting message Jesus leaves his disciples, a message Jesus is sharing with us right now.

 
thoughtsTerry Storch