Live to Love Scripture Encouragement

John 4:5-6 So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. It was noon, and Jesus was tired. The well apparently was located outside the city of Sychar and more than likely beside the road upon which Jesus was t...

John 4.1-4 by Norm Wakefield

John 3:36 He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. We find several encouragements in this last verse of the third chapter of John’s gospel. First, we are encouraged by the grace of God. Faith is evidence of eternal life. John didn’t say that the one who believes will have eternal life. They have eternal lif...

John 3:35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. What John the Baptist said about Jesus was ultimately the revelation of the Father, God’s love for Jesus, His Son. The Father loves the Son, so the Father tells and shows Jesus all things that He is doing. That’s why Jesus can testify of what He has seen and heard (vs. 32). It is the Father’s love for His Son that He has gi...

John 3:32-34. “What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure. I read these three verses together this morning because the apostle John taught about truth using John the Baptist’s testimony rega...

John 3:33 He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. Have you set your seal, given your stamp of approval, to the reality that Jesus is the Son of God, sent by the Father, God? Jesus’ testified that He was the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one can go to the Father except by Him (John 14:6). His life was the testimony of God, for Jesus said that the Fa...

John 3:32 What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. John the Baptist was speaking of Jesus in these verses. Jesus is from heaven, and what He has seen and heard in heaven, of that He testified on earth. In the first chapter of his gospel, the apostle John said that Jesus came to His own people and they didn’t receive Him. In 3:11, Jesus told Nicodemus, “T...

John 3:30-31 He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. We are encouraged by these verses that Jesus is above all men and all things. John understood, and so should we, that we are of the earth and from below. In contrast, Jesus is from heaven and therefore sho...

John 3:29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. This verse is John the Baptist’s comment to his disciples after they informed him that more people were being baptized by Jesus and His disciples. Again, we see that Jesus’ cousin knew his role—not...

John 3:27-28 John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.” You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, “I am not the Christ,” but, “I have been sent ahead of Him.” Today, I want to encourage us with three lessons from John the Baptist. First, he wasn’t building his ministry; he received his ministry from God. John knew who his source was. He had not...

John 3:25-27 Therefore, there arose a discussion on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.” John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.” What a profound reality: “A...

John 3:22-24 After these things, Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and baptizing. John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized-for John had not yet been thrown into prison. Baptism is an identity issue. The concept is that of one being immersed into a commu...

John 3:21 But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God." God has revealed His amazing love in Christ. Love has moved God to send His Son to be a savior to those upon whom He has chosen to lavish His love and grace. They once loved the darkness and ran from light because their deeds were evil. John described those who are saved...

John 3:19-20 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. We read today about the very opposite of living to love with Jesus—living to hate without Jesus. The presence of Light makes five th...

John 3:19 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. Light reveals what exists. That’s how God judges. When we walk into a dark room and turn on the light, the state of the room is revealed. The presence of light doesn’t change what exists in the room. The light reveals what is in and out of place. The...

John 3:18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Before we unpack this verse, we need to understand something about God’s judgment. God’s judgment isn’t like man’s judgment. When man judges, an action occurs, then judgment follows. In the kingdom of God, a sinful action reveals...

John 3:17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. As we consider verses 16-18, we want to be careful not to think that God loves everyone in the world with the same love. Jesus was making the point to Nicodemus that eternal life isn’t just for the Jews. God promised Abraham that through him, the nations would be blessed. Psalms...

John 3:14-16 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Do you remember the story from Numbers 21, when the people complained to God and to Moses about food and...

John 3:12-13 If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. There’s a lot in these two verses, but I want to focus today on one thing. As of the moment Jesus was speaking, no man had ascended into heaven and descended from heaven but Jesus. He came from heave...

John 3:11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. It’s not clear who the “we” is to whom Jesus referred. It could be the prophets or the disciples. But it sounds very similar to what John wrote in the intro to his first epistle. “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what...

John 3:9-10 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?” Nicodemus was puzzled and confused at Jesus’ talk about the new birth by the Holy Spirit. “How can these things be?” In 1 Corinthians 2:14, Paul wrote, “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are fooli...

John 3:7-8 Do not be amazed that I said to you, “You must be born again.” The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit. “You must be born again by the Spirit.” The word translated wind in verse 7 is the same word translated spirit in verse 6. The analogy is clear. One cannot control...

John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Today, I want to encourage you to live to love with Jesus. To love with Jesus, one must be born from above by the Holy Spirit. The life of Christ must reside within for the love of God to be revealed. Jesus was talking with Nicodemus about the new birth. Nick responded from a fleshly perspective when...

John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” In this passage, we have further comments from the Lord Jesus about the new birth, giving us three points of encouragement. Again, Jesus prefaced this statement with “Truly, truly,” to emphasize the reality of what He was about to say. So, we have good reason t...

John 3:4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?” And the answer is obvious: “No, a man cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born.” We learn from Nicodemus’ question that he had no concept of spiritual regeneration. He didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about, much less see his...