Live to Love Scripture Encouragement

John 6:3-6 Then Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. Therefore, Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. Jesus and His disciples...

John 6:1-2 After these things, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick. As we continue our study in the book of John and enter into chapter 6, we notice there’s a change of context, but let’s not miss John’s overall purpose in writing this gospel account. He wrote th...

John 5:45-47 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” When did Moses write about Jesus? Everything about the tabernacle spoke about Jesus. He is the substance underlying the sh...

John 4:31-32 Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat.” But He said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." In verses 31-38, John let us in on the conversation he and the rest of the disciples had with Jesus while those from the city were on their way to the well. The disciples had returned from the city with the food they went to purchase (vs. 8). Apparently...

John 5:42-44 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? I want to make three connections in these verses that will encourage us to l...

John 5:41 I do not receive glory from men; reason with me for a few minutes, please. Jesus lives in those who are His, and He hasn’t changed. He is life. As Paul wrote to the Colossians in 3:4, “When Christ, who is our life…” As we abide in Christ, we are empowered to live to love with Him. We abide in Christ as we identify with and embrace Jesus’ life. We can be encouraged by a couple of things f...

John 5:39-40 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them, you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. To put this verse into its context, Jesus had said that He gives life to the dead. John 5:21, “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.” A...

John 5:37-38 And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent. Today, we are encouraged by the testimony of the Father regarding Jesus. All the miraculous works of Jesus were the Father’s validation that He sent Jesus and that He was the Son of God. Wh...

John 5:31-36 “If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true. You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was the lamp that was burning and was shining, and you were willi...

John 5:30 "I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. When I read a verse like this which reveals the heart and attitude of Jesus, I am encouraged because Jesus lives in me. Since Jesus hasn’t changed, I gain helpful insight in my relationship with Him and how to live with Him. The context...

John 5:28-29 Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. What a day that will be! A time, that is what is meant by “an hour.” A time is coming when everyone who has ever lived on the earth will be res...

John 5:25-27 Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. The time we are living in, ever since the first coming of Jesus, has...

John 5:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Let me say this verse as I understand it in my own words. Hearing the word of Christ and then believing the Father, reveals one already has received eternal life and has passed out of judgment into life. The truth is th...

John 5:22-23 For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. You’ll notice that these verses are part of Jesus’ explanation of an initial statement regarding why He healed the lame man on the Sabbath. That statement was in verse 19. “T...

John 5:21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. I want to open my comments on this verse with this: to live to love with the Son is to live to love with the Father. I derive this conclusion from Jesus’ statements like this one. He continued to drive home the point to the Jews that Jesus’ works were the Father’s works and will...

John 5:20 For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel. The Father shows the Son what He is doing because He loves the Son. Let’s pause and think about this reality. We ask, “Has this changed?” I don’t think so because Jesus said to His disciples in John 14:12-14. “Truly, truly, I say...

John 5:19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. This verse reveals a truth about Jesus that is also true about all disciples of Jesus Christ. In essence, Jesus said to the Jews that apart from His Fa...

John 5:18 For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. The Jews understood exactly what Jesus was saying. His Father is God, and He is equal with God. But they didn’t believe it. It angered them and fueled their murderous hearts. It was bad enough that...

Here we have Jesus’ answer to the Jews who were persecuting Him for healing on the Sabbath. John 5:17 But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” Later in John 14:10-11, John recorded very similar words from Jesus explaining His union with His Father and His Father’s working. “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I...

John 5:14-16 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.” The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. For this reason, the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. The lame man probably had not participated in a feast for 38 y...

John 5:12-13 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk’?” But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. I ask myself how on earth did that man not know who healed him? If I apply the information I have in these verses, I can imagine a scenario where the man never got Jesus’ name. There were...

John 5:9-11 Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day. So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.” But he answered them, “He who made me well was the one who said to me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.’” Jesus, knowing the laws of the Sabbath, told...

John 5:7-8 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” We have recorded here the sick man’s reply to Jesus’ question, “Do you wish to get well?” His answer? He wanted to be healed, but someone else always beat him to the pool beca...

John 5:1-6 After these things, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now, there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate, a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, [waiting for the moving of the waters; for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirr...

John 4:51-54 As he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his son was living. So, he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, “Yesterday, at the seventh hour, the fever left him.” So, the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives”; and he himself believed, and his whole household. This is, again, a second sign...