Eddie Izzard [Stripped] | Terms & Conditions
(Source: shotgunanderson, via satish89)
(Source: , via satish89)
“For the last 500 years, the locals of Nongriat in Meghalaya, India have grown several hundred bridges across the region’s numerous water channels, using just the roots of local ribber trees. Some of the bridges extend over 100 feet in length and are strong enough to support more than 50 people at a time.”
(via wilwheaton)
About three things I was absolutely positive. First, I had a pokemon. Second, there was a part of me - and I didn’t know how dominant that part might be - that wanted to be the very best, like no one ever was. Third, Gary Oak was unconditionally and irrevocably a douchenozzle.
Reblogging for the comment
How old are you?
“ten”
How long have you been ten?
“…”
“I know what you are.”
“Say it.”
“A Pokemon Master.”
I think I’m going to cry this is so funny. The comments kill me.
(Source: setyourphaserstostun, via mudbloodsonfire)
As seen on Facebook. (posted by Homestead Survival)
A sweet lesson on patience.
A NYC Taxi driver wrote:
I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes I honked again. Since this was going to be my last ride of my shift I thought about just driving away, but instead I put the car in park and walked up to the door and knocked.. ‘Just a minute’, answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.
After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90’s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940’s movie.
By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.
There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard
box filled with photos and glassware.
‘Would you carry my bag out to the car?’ she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.
She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.
She kept thanking me for my kindness. ‘It’s nothing’, I told her.. ‘I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated.’
‘Oh, you’re such a good boy, she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, ‘Could you drive
through downtown?’
‘It’s not the shortest way,’ I answered quickly..
‘Oh, I don’t mind,’ she said. ‘I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice.
I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. ‘I don’t have any family left,’ she continued in a soft voice..’The doctor says I don’t have very long.’ I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.
‘What route would you like me to take?’ I asked.
For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.
We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.
Sometimes she’d ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, ‘I’m tired.Let’s go now’.
We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.
Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move.
They must have been expecting her.
I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.
‘How much do I owe you?’ She asked, reaching into her purse.
‘Nothing,’ I said
‘You have to make a living,’ she answered.
‘There are other passengers,’ I responded.
Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug.She held onto me tightly.
‘You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’
I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light.. Behind me, a door shut.It was the sound of the closing of a life..
I didn’t pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day,I could hardly talk.What if that woman had gotten an angry driver,or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?
On a quick review, I don’t think that I have done anything more important in my life.
We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.
But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.
(via bri7tany)
My heart is filled with songs of forever -
Of a city that endures, where all is made new.
I know I don’t belong here; I’ll never
Call this place my home, I’m just passing through
Thrice - In Exiles - Beggars
- April 30
- , 2012
We are the sons and daughters of broken homes, kings of great peace couldn’t compare to us, because we are the light wherever darkness breeds, and we will never bow to them.
I Am Empire (via theitool)
Jesus Goes to the Festival of Tabernacles
1 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want[a] to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. 2 But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, 3 Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. 4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
6 Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. 8 You go to the festival. I am not[b] going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” 9Having said this, he stayed in Galilee.
10 However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. 11 Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?”
12 Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”
Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” 13 But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.
Jesus Teaches at the Festival
14 Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. 15 The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?”
16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. 17Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18 Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”
20 “You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”
21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”
Division Over Who Jesus Is
25 At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? 27 But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”
28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29 but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”
30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 Still, many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?”
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.
33 Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me.34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”
35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? 36What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”
37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”[c] 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”
41 Others said, “He is the Messiah.”
Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? 42 Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” 43 Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. 44 Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.
Unbelief of the Jewish Leaders
45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”
46 “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied.
47 “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. 48 “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49 No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”
50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked,51 “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”
52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”
[The earliest manuscripts and many other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53—8:11.]
53 Then they all went home,
(Verses 3 - 5) This is an example of the advice that you will receive when you consult man about the work that you are doing for the Lord. Even Jesus, seeking His Father’s will was given advice that He did not need from His brothers. They who told perceived in their own way what they assumed Jesus was doing, then gave Him advice to fit that action. It is good advice for the situation that they imagined was happening and the goal they assumed was wanting to be achieved, but the Lord knew better and did not take their advice. He was not on Earth to become a public figure, it was a by product of what He was to do, but that was not the chief goal. He knew what it was that God wanted Him to do and He did not take heed of the advice given to Him by mankind. We also should imitate our Saviour. In times of trouble, or when not sure of what new direction to take, we also need to seek first our guide, the one who was sent to us in place of Jesus, the Holy Spirit. That is His role; to be our counsel, to walk with us step by step and to point us in the right direction when we are facing difficult choices, be they many or few. For God alone knows what plan He has in place for your life and only He can put us on the right path, those of the world do not see the end result and will give you advice that they perceive to be sound, but the end result will not be the same.
(Verse 31) There were those in the crowd during the festival who believed in Jesus due to the signs that He had performed in front of them, or that they had heard he had performed by word of mouth. However, they still questioned whether there would come a Messiah who would perform more signs than Jesus. They were just putting their faith in Him because He was the best thing to come along yet, not necessarily because they actually believed Him to be the Messiah. This is relevant in so many ways to us today. We plunge into what seems to be the best thing, but we’re also still waiting for something better to come along. Jesus is the best thing to arrive up to now, and will be until forever. There is nothing else to wait for. When that job comes up, the one you’ve been waiting for, take it and go for it with all you’ve got. Don’t hold back 10% or 20% just in case something better comes along. It’s been given to you for a reason. Same in relationships, if you know that the person who’s just entered your life seems to be exactly what you’ve been waiting for, then go for it. I’m not saying to plunge in without caution, double check everything against the signs that you were told to watch out for. In our case today, we can check with God to make sure that what we are getting into is the perfect opportunity. In those days, the Jews had the scriptures to bounce Jesus off and many of them found that He bounced true. Basically, don’t always be looking for the next best thing. If you know in your heart that you’ve got it good, be content. If you know that what you see in front of you is miraculous, be joyful and rejoice.
(Verse 48 & 49) The Pharisees were so wrapped up in their education that they failed to see what was going on with Jesus. They couldn’t understand that He was the one that they’d been watching for since the Messiah was promised to them. The ‘mob’ benefitted from knowing much less about, and putting less importance on, the law of the day and by having a broader focus on life. They were able to appreciate that Jesus was doing miraculous things and that He was changing people’s lives. With the Pharisees so focused on the law and upholding it, they failed to see the bigger picture. We have to be careful of where we put our focus. We can’t allow it to narrow down to our daily life or what we are doing minute by minute. The focus that we have must be on Him instead. If we’re always looking for the signs, we can fail to see what’s on the road in front of us. Jesus is on the road and He’s telling us which turn to make and which lane to be in. I know that I’ve been guilty of taking my eyes of the road at times and getting into trouble for it. Fix our eyes on the destination, our rightful place at His side, and we will have no trouble seeing the bigger picture. Anything that we may run a risk of missing, we can trust that He will point out to us if we continue to put Him first.
So I pray. Thanking You God for all that You have done. For continuing to be there even when I stop walking forwards and start to look for the next sign. For always being willing to speak to me and never holding back Your wisdom. I thank You for each and every child of Yours that reads this, I ask that You would use my pitiful offering to speak to them too and that they could be refreshed as I am. I am so thankful for the presence of Your Holy Spirit in my life everyday. I ask that I would become more dependant on Him and learn to turn to You first for guidance and advice. Help me to hear what I need to hear. I am so thankful for where I am right now in life, I am so grateful that You have made me the way that I am, not always looking for the next best thing but someone who can appreciate the things that You have given to me. Help me to stay this way, content in You. Finally Lord, help us all to focus completely on You, trusting You to show us the right way to go, the right people to talk to and the right decisions to make. Bring us into places that need Your light shined. Keep safe all the readers, that we may bring You all the glory and honour and praise. In Your Everlasting Name, Amen!
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
1 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Festival was near.
5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7 Philip answered him, “It would take almost a year’s wages[a] to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
14 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
Jesus Walks on the Water
16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17 where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18 A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. 19 When they had rowed about three or three and a half miles,[b] they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” 21 Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.
22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.
Jesus the Bread of Life
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’[c]”
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All whom the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”[[[/woj]]]
43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’[d] Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which people may eat and not die.51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Many Disciples Desert Jesus
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit[e] and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
(Verses 5 & 6) The Lord already has a plan in place. He asks us what we think should be done because He loves us and wants us to learn what is right to do in the situations that we face. It’s a teaching process, it’s seen with parents and children everywhere. Parents teach their children how to cross the road by telling them what to do when the situation is not present, and then when they get to the roadside, they ask the children what they need to do next. The parents aren’t asking the children because they need their advice, but to check and see if they were paying attention to the teaching from earlier. God does this too. We are constantly learning from His word, from how He speaks to us and from what others have learnt from Him. When certain situations come up in our lives, He asks us what we should do next to make sure that we are learning the right answers. The Lord already knows what He plans to do.
(Verses 11 - 13) We are such greedy beings, so needy and wanting. Here we see that Jesus ‘distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted’. But there were left overs, 12 baskets full. If each had asked for only as much as they needed, then there would be no leftovers. He was prepared and He knew that there would indeed be leftovers, for He made sure to tell the disciples to collect anything that was left, instructing explicitly that there was to be nothing wasted. Why must we always want more than we need? We should only ever ask for exactly what we need and be satisfied with it. The only reason we would ever receive more than we need would be to give to others who have not received their full portion. Remember this, and recognise how much you need, not ask for how much you want.
(Verse 15) Do not fall into the trap of other peoples expectations and wants of you. Focus on what you know to be your role, your position in life or, if you don’t know it yet, remind yourself what you know it’s not. For if we are true to ourselves, we know what we are never going to be called for. Jesus knew that He was not to be the king of those times and He removed Himself from those who would push Him into a position that was not His.
(Verses 29 - 31) What a fickle and forgetful crowd it was that day. They have just travelled across the lake having been fed from an offering of 5 small loaves and two small fish and yet here they are asking Jesus for a sign that they can witness so that they can believe in Him. All we are called to do for God is to believe in Him who was sent by the Father to take our place. Remember and do not forget all that He has ever done for us. Whether it’s the major miracle of dying on the cross for our salvation or making sure that a perfect parking spot opened up for you at the right time. He is always working in our lives, do not ask Him for another sign when you want confirmation of His majesty, remember that which has already happened.
(Verses 66 - 69) After teaching on the difficulty of following Christ and believing in Him, we find that many of the disciples that He had gained turned away and never followed again. These that changed their minds had seen the five thousand fed, the boat transport itself to their destination, the healing of the cripple at the pool, the conversion of many Samaritans, the healing of the official’s son, heard John’s testimony about Him and surely many more signs and miracles but they still rejected Him and turned aside. Those who stayed, the twelve, had a much closer, personal relationship with the Saviour and had come to know Him as the Son who spoke the words of eternal life. What this shows is that we can witness as many amazing things as our tiny minds can comprehend, but if we do not have for ourselves a personal relationship with the Lord than it is all meaningless and we will run away from the hard tasks that will accost us in the world. Pursue for your own selves then a close relationship with the Father, learn to walk with His Spirit daily and become as one with the Son. For this is truly the way to eternal life, that we would be as one flesh with Him. When we know Him as the one true God, then everyone else who is held in positions of honour will pale into insignificance.
So then, I thank the Lord for His gracious mercy and compassionate understanding. For reaching out to me in the darkness and showing me His light. I am so grateful that He already has a plan laid out for me and I pray that my ears and mind would be open to His teachings so that I would know the correct course of action in the upcoming situations that I’ll face. I hope that I will learn to ask for only what I need, and to be ready to share anything that is in abundance. I ask that I would be focused on His will for my life, and not listen to the plans that the world says she has for me. I hope for a long memory of His goodness, for all that He has ever done for me, that I would not challenge His majesty. I ask that I would become less of myself daily and more like the Son, my Saviour. Finally I pray for each and every person that reads this, and also for those who do not. That they would hear the call of God on their lives, that they would be ready with open and willing hearts to answer that call. May the Lord bless and keep you all safe and close to Him. For His is the power, glory and honour, forever and ever. Amen!
- April 11
- , 2012
The Healing at the Pool
1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda[a] and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3[4] Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.[b] 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”
11 But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”
12 So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”
13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.
The Authority of the Son
16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17 In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.
Testimonies About Jesus
31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is true.
33 “You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. 34 Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. 35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.
36 “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39You study[c] the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you possess eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
41 “I do not accept glory from human beings, 42 but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God[d]?
45 “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”
(Verses 5-7) Sometimes when we face a problem for so long all we do is focus on the problem and how it affects us. The cripple was so wrapped up in the fact that he was a cripple that he didn’t even properly consider the question that was being asked of him. Jesus wasn’t asking him why he didn’t go to get healing, Jesus was asking if he wanted to be well. The man was so focused on his lameness that he was relying on other people to get him to the healing waters. Jesus heals him anyway by telling him to get up and walk. We can be too focused on getting help from others that we don’t realise that God is invested in our problems and is the one that can tell us to bypass the pool and just get up, pick up our mat and walk. God is always asking us if we want to be made whole, we just don’t hear the question properly and assume that He’s asking us why we aren’t being healed. The solution is always God.
(Verse 24) Those who believe in Jesus and the word that He brings receive eternal life. Also, we will not be judged, for we have crossed over from death to life. This is just another thing for us to be thankful for. Jesus has taken all of our actions upon Himself, everything that is within our lives was taken upon His shoulders and buried that day at Calvary. Now that He is risen we are reflected in Him and all God can see is His Son. That is why we are not judged, for He is being judged in our place. Once again, this does not give us license to do whatever we will. For our Lord Jesus was punished that day at Golgotha for our iniquities so why would we wish to add more to the burden? The day may have physically happened in history, but the sacrifice is eternal, He is yesterday today and forever. Do not continue to sin against the Lord.
(Verses 39 & 40) The Pharisees are like those who read a recipe and follow the instructions all the way, but then let the food go to waste. They do everything to the letter but enjoy that which was created from the instruction that was given them. The prophets had testified for generations about the Messiah who was to come, but when He stood before them, they did not recognise Him. May we not be so blind and fruitless. We need to adhere to that which we have been taught, yes, but not so rigidly that it is a blindfold to the truth of His Majesty. Seek God in His word, do not just read the word for the sake of it. For you can learn all you want about what is in the food from the recipe, but if you do not eat the food that is cooked, then you are wasting everyone’s time.
God, Father, Saviour. Thank You for what You have done in me. Thank You that You love me in my brokenness and mess. Thank You that You have chosen to use this imperfect vessel to pour Your life into. Help me to be less of my broken mess and be more of You. Teach me to focus on You in the face of my problems. Teach me to turn to You in my times of need and not just rely on those around me who are also facing a troubled situation. You are the one who can always see the solution and if You chose to use one of my companions to do so, then it will be right in Your eyes. I thank You that You have brought me out of death and into life, that I am covered with Your sacrifice and dressed in robes of righteousness. Thank You for Your son whom You see when You look at me. Help me to feed my soul with the food that You help me to prepare. May this not just be a fading recipe left in the compost heap that is the internet, instead may it be turned into nourishment for my soul. Bless everyone who reads this Father and show them Your mighty love. Forever will I proclaim Your glory and honour and praise. Amen!
- April 10
- , 2012
Love is an all in thing. If you love someone or something you don’t hold back anything; if you’re holding something back, it isn’t love.
My eyes have adjusted to dark
And so has my heart
The weight of the world has covered me
I’m in over my head
Am I living or dead
Can anyone hear me calling out
I’m calling out
I’m finally breaking
So where are you now
It’s been such a long time
That I’ve tried to live without
I’m suffocating, I need you to breathe
So reach down and pull me up, pull me out
Before I am buried beneath
I built this house on the shore
All I wanted was more
Then I felt the sand start shifting
I saw the cracks in the walls
I painted over them all
I tried my best to just ignore
I can’t ignore
I thought I was climbing out
But it’s dragging me down
What’s hidden here with me
Thought I was alone
But it pulls me deeper now
I can’t escape
- April 10
- , 2012
