Lead Me to the Cross…Glory in what the seed produces!
Daily Devotions based the Sermon on John 12:20-32 from March 21, 2021
THIS WEEK: Lead Me to the Cross…Plant a Seed…Find the Cross!
Gardening takes patience. Lots of it.
I planted a few pepper seeds about 3 weeks ago…I was ready to put new seeds in a couple starter containers that the shoots weren’t coming up. Only to see a couple little green things shoot up just yesterday.
But, by time those little seedlings produce a pepper, it’s probably another 8 weeks. It takes a long time for a seed to finally produce something. But when it does, it’s glorious. Those that don’t…well, not so glorious.
The ultimate glory of the seed is in what it produces. If it didn’t do anything (flowers or fruit) we probably wouldn’t plant the seed. But we plant the seed because we desire to see and enjoy what it produces.
The Lord is the same way. His glory is in what the Seed (Jesus) produces. Our Father in heaven sent Jesus to this earth to live, die and rise again. Yet it wasn’t just completing this work that was his purpose. Ultimately, he did all this to see his work reproduce and experience the fruit of that work.
What is the fruit of his work? Our lives changed by him in two specific ways. The first is this: We must die to this world and live for eternity. (Read tomorrow’s devotion for the second):
Just as Jesus went through the process of death that we might live, so we must also go through the process of death so that we might live…and not just physical death. Jesus put it this way in John 12:25:
The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
It’s a stark and harsh contrast. Yet just like Jesus couldn’t just “partially die” he had to fully die for the payment for sin to be sufficient. So God calls us to die to this world. Die to what our sinful, world focused desires want. Jesus said it this way in Matthew 16:25-26: For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
The answer, is there is no profit and no gain for loving this world and despising our connection with Jesus. The fruit of Jesus’ death in our lives is a complete trust and loyalty to him in our lives. It’s not that we can’t enjoy things of this world, but we can not live with our hearts fixated and satisfied by the things of this world.
The Apostle Paul described the change in Galatians 5:24-25 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
The same principle applies to us as Jesus applied to himself. If the seed falls to the ground and dies, it produces many seeds. If we are willing to let our sinful nature die, our Spirit driven nature will produce its fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22).
Truly the glory of God is seen when the Spirit of God produces faith and good fruit. Just like the glory of the seed is in the fruit it produces.
Apply: Evaluate the fruit you are producing. Does it indicate a loyalty, love and dedication to this world, or a loyalty, love and dedication to your Savior Jesus? Ask God to change your focus and love for this world to a focus and love for him.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank you for giving me a heart of faith that is able and willing to produce the fruit of faith. Forgive my love and loyalty to the world. Give me a stronger love and loyalty to you. AMEN.
Lead Me to the Cross…The Glory of the Seed Is in the Process!
Daily Devotions based the Sermon on John 12:20-32 from March 21, 2021
THIS WEEK: Lead Me to the Cross…Plant a Seed…Find the Cross!
I am not a biologist or a seed expert (never good to start with a disclaimer!).
But here’s what I’ve discovered.
Seeds are part of a cycle of life that God has programmed into a plant to perpetuate a plant once the lifespan of the original plan is over. However, if you skip part of the process, the final result will be stifled at best, completely fail at worst.
Jesus said, (John 12:24) I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
Jesus didn’t get into all the specifics of the seed, but he uses the biology of a seed to set up the theology of what he was going to do.
First the biology. A seed has three main components: 1) the outer shell, 2) the endosperm and the 3) embryo. The outer shell hardens as the seed matures on the parent plant and encapsulates all the energy and information the seed needs to later germinate and produce another plant. If the seed doesn’t mature (is a “wet” seed) it won’t germinate. It would be like picking a green bean (while it is still green) and trying to plant the seed. It doesn’t work because the seed isn’t mature until the bean has dried out and the seed’s outer shell hardened.
Inside the seed the endosperm is the portion of the seed that must give up its substance and nutrition to the embryo for the embryo to produce the root and the shoot. If the endosperm does not “die” the seed will not germinate and replicate. But if it dies, it will produce many seeds. (Hmm…sounds familiar, doesn’t it?)
Now the theology: Jesus knew that the seed would not carry out its purpose until it went through its process. Jesus knew that he could not finish his main purpose (see yesterday’s devotion) of saving souls without going through the process his father had given him. He knew the process entailed suffering and dying…i.e. “falling to the ground and dying.”
Luke 24:7 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’
Seems odd that Jesus had to die, but he did.
Peter tried to discourage it. Jesus called him an instrument of Satan.
Matthew 16:21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
Jesus knew that in his death, many “seeds” or followers would be produced.
John 12:32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.
Jesus willingly “fell to the ground and died” so that we might live.
It’s just the process the Father had determined.
Apply: It shouldn’t surprise us that the Creator would use an element of his creation to teach a wonderful truth. What other examples of this can you think of? Or next time you take a walk, notice nature around you. What lessons is God teaching you?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for being willing to go through the process of living, dying and rising again. Without any one of these we are lost. With them all we are promised life eternal. AMEN.
Lead Me to the Cross…The glory of the Seed is in its Purpose!
Daily Devotions based the Sermon on John 12:20-32 from March 21, 2021
THIS WEEK: Lead Me to the Cross…Plant a Seed…Find the Cross!
We eat a lot of seeds.
Bread out of ground wheat. Chili with beans. Mustard from ground mustard seeds. Spices like celery seed, coriander, or dill. Corn on the cob or peas in the pod.
They are all seeds. The amazing thing is God designed the seed to provide nutrition to the one who eats it – even the animals that eat seeds for their nutrition.
One caution…don’t eat all the seeds. Why?
Consuming seeds for nutrition is one of their purposes. But if all the seeds on the earth were consumed, we would quickly miss the benefit of their main purpose, reproduction.
The seed’s main purpose is reproduction. That is how God designed it. Even though it gives nutrition to the eater, it is designed to grow another plant. When it reproduces, it has carried out its main purpose.
(In case you’re worried, the United States Department of Agriculture has a “Seed Vault” in Fort Collins, CO in which over 850,000 seeds are stored and preserved in the event of a global catastrophe. Some of the seeds have been stored for 90 years!)
Is it possible that we can miss the main purpose of Jesus’ work as we consume what is more visible or immediately beneficial? Perhaps Jesus knew this about the Greeks who wanted to see him. Did they want to see a miracle? Did they want to see him raise someone from the dead? Did they want to see some amazing confrontation with the Jews? All of these things would have been amazing experiences to witness.
But it would have just been consuming a secondary purpose of Jesus. Yes he came to heal the sick, feed the hungry and raise the dead. However, Jesus is wanting to shift the narrative off of “consuming” his miracles and teaching to “seeing” and connecting with his main purpose: saving souls through his death on the cross.
His purpose was spoken of when Joseph is given the name for the baby to be born of Mary:
Matthew 1:21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
When the Bible speaks of Jesus’ key work, it is not in his healing, driving out demons, raising the dead ministry, but the payment for sin he endured by his death on the cross. The Apostle John writes:
1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
God sent Jesus to save sinners. At the crux of that was his crucifixion. In the crucifixion would his glory be seen as he paid the penalty your sin and mine deserved.
This is how Jesus wants to be seen. This is what brings glory to his name.
Apply: Evaluate your faith life. Do you treat Jesus as a consumable (i.e. desire what he can give you to enhance life on this earth)? Or do you see Jesus for his main purpose: saving you from the punishment your sins deserved?
PRAYER: Lord Jesus thank you for all you did for me, but especially I thank you for your saving work you accomplished on the cross for me! AMEN.
Lead Me to the Cross…Plant a Seed!
Daily Devotions based the Sermon on John 12:20-32 from March 21, 2021
THIS WEEK: Lead Me to the Cross…Plant a Seed…Find the Cross!
Seeds and spring…they go together.
Since the “deep freeze” in mid-February, it’s been time to plant gardens here in Central Texas. It’s a fun time of the year, to plan what you want to plant in your garden box and then put the seeds in the ground…checking daily to see if they sprouted.
God designed the seed to be an amazing thing…to contain the information and energy to produce another plant with many more seeds.
But when you’ve planted your seeds in your garden, have you ever thought of the cross of Jesus?
I hadn’t. But now I will. Why?
A group of God-fearing Greeks were in Jerusalem to observe the Passover. Jesus had just ridden into Jerusalem on the donkey on what we know as Palm Sunday. A short time before that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. Jerusalem was abuzz with rumors of the Messianic kingdom coming close with Jesus as the next king. So, I probably would have wanted to do the same as this group…see Jesus. But as Jesus often does, he takes a simple question and teaches and important spiritual truth…this time, using a seed.
John 12: 20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
The Greeks would see Jesus and his glory…perhaps not in the way they expected.
I’d be looking for the glory of Jesus in a great miracle, a great coronation event, or a masterful piece of teaching. The cross would not be the first place I would look. But that’s the point of the seed.
The kernel of wheat must fall to the ground and die. If it dies, it produces many seeds.
First a bit of biology. There is part of a seed known as the endosperm. This is the part that must give energy and life to the embryo. If the endosperm refuses to give up its energy and life, the seed will not produce additional seed. However, when it “dies” the embryo lives sending the root downward and the shoot upward.
Jesus was describing the fact that he had to die in order to produce life. This isn’t the normal way we would expect to see Jesus but yet his death on the cross would provide life for many. We’ll unpack this picture more this week.
For today, if you are able, go outside and plant your seeds. As you put them in the ground, remember the death of your Savior Jesus. As new life comes from that seed, recall the new life and eternal life Jesus gives to you and many more because he was willing to “fall to the ground and die”.
Apply: Plant a seed today. Ask God to in the growth of that plant to use it to remind you of the death Jesus suffered to give you life and make you full of good fruit.
Prayer: Jesus, thank you for finding your glory in carrying our sins to the cross. Thank you that by your death, we might live. AMEN.
Lead Me to the Cross: When You’re Fed Up…Look Up & Live! (Part 2)
Daily Devotions based the Sermon on Numbers 21:4-9 from March 14, 2021
THIS WEEK: Lead Me to the Cross…Find the Snake…Find the Cross!
I promised you the third blessing of looking up when you get fed up. Here it is:
3. You live seeing God’s Perspective
This past Wednesday, I was listening to the latest episode of John Maxwell’s Leadership podcast on which he had Jamie Kern Lima. She is the author of a new book, Believe It, and the founder of IT Cosmetics. She related that at one point as she was building the business and desperate for an investor, she thought she had a deal with an equity group, but was told “No.” When she asked why, the lead of the investment group said, “I don’t think people will buy make up from a person who looks like you.”
Ouch. This hurt, obviously, but it also fed her resolve to have a cosmetic line that appealed to the everyday woman, not just super models. Six years after that rejection, she sold the company to L’Oreal for $1.2 billion. The lead of the investment group sent her an email and congratulated her on the deal and said, “I was wrong.”
If Jamie had that group of investors give her money, she would have sold much more stake in the company and lost out on millions of dollars at the sale of the company to L’Oreal.
As she reflected back on the situation she quipped, “Rejection is God’s Protection.”
As hard as that rejection was, she, as a Christian, could look back and see God had a plan better than the one for which she was rejected.
In the moment, it is tough to see God’s perspective. When things aren’t working out as we plan, it is hard for us to trust that God has our good in mind. These situations challenge our innate desire to control, work our plan, and have our outcome.
God invites us to look up. When we look up we see his perspective.
For Israel, the issue at hand was poisonous snakes (Numbers 21:4-9). But for God it was poison in their hearts. Their hearts were drifting from the LORD and his leadership. In his mercy, he gave them a solution for the snakes, but better yet, he gave their hearts opportunity to turn back to him and trust him with their lives.
God’s perspective always carries our long-term and eternal destination in mind. The very familiar verse of Scripture, gives that focus:
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Here’s some more verses that give God’s perspective:
God’s perspective on our work/career:
1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
God’s perspective on tough relationships:
Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
God’s perspective on material wealth and seeking after it:
Matthew 16:26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
God’s perspective on our value and worth:
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Just remember, we won’t see God’s perspective if we always look down at the situation. So look up and live life seeing it from God’s perspective.
Apply: Consider a challenging situation in which you find yourself. What changes when you try to see it from God’s perspective? What is he inviting you to do? Learn? Understand?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for knowing and guiding my life. Show me your perspective more and more. Remind me always when I get fed up, to always look up to you…and live. AMEN.