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.
Lead Me to the Cross…When You’re Fed Up…Look up AND Live! (Part 1)
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!
Life and situations in life can be challenging. Perhaps you are in one of those seasons now.
I have to say, often my first reaction is to complain about the situation and blame God for putting me in it or not removing the situation from me.
What I’m learning from Israel and God’s patient interaction with them (See Numbers 21:4-9 and the earlier devotions this week) is to go through life seeing things from God’s perspective.
Three things happen when you look up to the Lord. (Here’s the first two…read tomorrow’s devotion for #3)
- You live trusting God’s Plan.
The reason Israel had been wandering years in the dessert is because they lacked trust in God and Moses to conquer the land of Canaan. They were ready to go back to Egypt. Like Joshua and Caleb, all should have trusted God’s plan.
Numbers 14:7-9 “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 8 If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”
This is only one of many reasons the Lord has given us to trust him and his plan. Look up and live, trusting God’s plan for you and your life.
- You live believing God’s Promises
Look at what God had promised Israel before they set out into the desert:
Exodus 6:6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’ ”
Six times in three verses God makes a promise…”I will…” When God says he will…he will. His promises are always trustworthy. His promises will never let you down.
What are the promises God gives you to look to when life challenges you? Here are a couple…
When you feel all alone and perceive that God is gone and doesn’t care:
Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
When you feel life is too challenging and you feel like giving up:
Revelation 21:2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Which promise of God is your favorite?
Life can certainly provide its challenges…so don’t forget, when you are fed up, remember to look up!
Apply: Here’s a “promise a day” resource if you’d like one verse a day to reflect on, memorize and carry with you (https://www.365promises.com/).
Prayer: Lord, thank you for being always faithful and trustworthy. Lead me before I get fed up, to always look up and be reminded to trust you in all things and believe your promises are real for me. Amen.
Lead Me to the Cross…When You’re Fed Up…Look Up!
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!
“Only when you hit bottom, do you start to look up.”
Israel had hit bottom. They complained of detestable food. They claimed they were out in the desert to die. They wanted a new leader. They wanted a new God.
If that wasn’t enough, now they had poisonous snakes lunging at them wherever they went.
Their first step: Repent (see yesterday’s devotion). God woke them up with the snakes.
They asked Moses to intercede for them. Moses did and God answered.
Ironically, God didn’t take the snakes away. In fact, it appears he allowed individuals to continue to be bitten. But he did provide a way to not perish from the snake bite.
Numbers 21:8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.
The issue wasn’t the snakes. It was the people’s hearts. What would they do now? Would they continue to complain and blame God for the poisonous snakes and their negative impact on life? Would their hearts stay full of complaining, blaming and lack of trust? Or would they listen to their leader Moses and once again trust the Lord their God.
How? By looking up…at the bronze snake on the pole and trusting the promise the Lord attached to it: “Look and live!”
The bronze serpent lifted up on the pole saved people from snakebites.
Jesus would use this event to describe what would happen to him:
John 3:14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
Jesus lifted up on the cross would save people from the bite of THE serpent, Satan.
Satan would and still does prowl around looking for someone to bite with the poison of sin. Sin still has it’s sting of death. Only when we come to the realization that we cannot save ourselves from the curse of sin, do we look up for a solution.
That solution is in Jesus. The Lord allowed his Son to be lifted up on the pole of the cross to not just pay the punishment our sin deserved, but to provide the promise our heart needed to believe.
That promise is powerful to compel our heart to believe it. By believing we have eternal life. That means we will never be threatened by sin and its consequences any more. We will be in the “promise land” of heaven, with our Savior, Jesus.
So, next time you’re fed up, remember to look up. Look up and see your Savior who loves you, was lifted up on a cross for you, and has a place in heaven waiting for you!
Apply: What sin continues to “bite” you? Look up to the cross to see Jesus who lived and died for you. Look up to the cross for power and strength to say “No” to that sin.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for honoring Moses’ request to provide deliverance for your people. Thank you for providing deliverance for me by your Son’s death on the cross. AMEN.
Lead Me to the Cross…When I’m Fed Up…God Wakes Me Up!
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!
Not always, but sometimes…
God allows tough situations to wake us up and turn from a path that is spiritually destructive.
I just hope it’s not snakes…like he did for Israel.
I hate snakes.
But maybe that’s the point.
When we are fed up and start complaining against God for the situation we are in and blaming him for our circumstances, we need a wake-up call. God could allow worse. Sin is serious and God wants us to realize that.
For Israel he sent snakes…poisonous ones. Ones that led to the loss of life.
Number 21:6 Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.
I suppose we could react to this and get even more mad at God and simply turn from God and try to outrun the snakes. (Pretty sure I can guess how that will end up!)
Or we could wake up and see into our heart the sin that God desires we acknowledge and repent of. Israel got it. (Better choice.)
Numbers 21:7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
I am not going to try to label every hardship in your life as God calling you to repentance for some sin you committed. However, when we reach a point of being fed up with something in life and begin to blame God for it, it is now a sin that is captivating our heart. We may believe God is out to punish us. Truth is, God is out to save us from our sin and its eternal consequences. If necessary, he’s willing to take extreme measures to turn our heart away from sin and back to him.
God, in his justice, could have wiped out all of Israel. But he didn’t. He wanted to wake up all of Israel.
Same is true for us.
When I’m fed up with God, God wants me to wake up. Wake up and return to him.
Here’s his promise:
1 John 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
God wants nothing more than the hearts of people to trust him…always. God wants nothing more than people to live with him forever…everyone.
So next time you reach a point where you are fed up, consider God may be calling you to wake up. Wake up, repent, and receive his love and grace once again.
More tomorrow…
Apply: Is there a situation in life for which you are blaming God and struggling to not do so? Try this. Acknowledge the hurt you experienced to God. Repent of blaming God for it. Ask God to give you strength to see the spiritual blessing that he desires to work out of a very difficult physical situation.
Prayer: Lord, lead me to trust you always. Forgive me when I blame you for things my sin creates in life. Help me when I am fed up to wake up to your call to repent and live. Amen.