⁴² Jesus said to them, 

“If God were your Father, you would love me, 

for I have come here from God. 

I have not come on my own; 

God sent me. 

⁴³ Why is my language not clear to you?

Because you are unable to hear what I say. 

⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, 

and you want to carry out your father’s desires. 

He was a murderer from the beginning,

not holding to the truth,

for there is no

truth in him.

When he lies,

he speaks his native language,

for he is a liar and the father of lies. 

⁴⁵ Yet because I tell the truth, 

you do not believe me! 

⁴⁶ Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?

If I am telling the truth,

why don’t you believe me? 

⁴⁷ Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. 

The reason you do not hear

is that you do not

belong to

God.”

John 8

Devil

fathers the

spiritually deaf/dead.

But our Father God

desires for all to be

saved.

Praise God!

³¹ The One who comes from above 

is above all;

the one who is from the earth

belongs to the earth,

and speaks as one from the earth. 

The One who comes from heaven

is above all. 

³² He testifies to what He has seen and heard, 

but no one accepts His testimony. 

³³ Whoever has accepted it

has certified that God

is truthful. 

³⁴ For the One whom God has sent 

speaks the words of God,

for God gives the Spirit 

without limit. 

³⁵ The Father loves the Son

and has placed everything

in His hands. 

³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son

has eternal life, 

but whoever rejects the Son

will not see life,

for God’s wrath

remains on

them.

John 3

In His

hands.

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. 

¹⁸ Whoever believes in Him

is not condemned, 

but whoever does not believe

stands condemned

already because they have not believed

in the name of God’s one and only Son. 

¹⁹ This is the verdict: Light 

has come into the world,

but people loved darkness

instead of light

because their deeds were evil. 

²⁰ Everyone who does evil

hates the light,

and will not come into the light

for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 

²¹ But whoever lives by the truth

comes into the light,

so that it may be seen plainly

that what they have done

has been done in the sight

of God.

John 3

Into the

Light

In the beginning was the Word, 

and the Word was with God, 

and the Word was God. 

He was with God

in the beginning. 

Through him all things were made;

without him nothing was made

that has been made. 

In him was life, 

and that life

was the light 

of all mankind. 

The light

shines in the darkness, 

and the darkness

has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 

He came as a witness to testify concerning that light,

so that through him all might believe. 

He himself was not the light;

he came only as a witness to the light.

⁹ The true light 

that gives light

to everyone was coming into the world. 

He was in the world,

and though the world

was made through him, 

the world did not recognize him. 

He came to that which was his own,

but his own did not receive him. 

Yet to all who did receive him,

to those who believed in his name, 

he gave the right to become children of God— 

children born not of natural descent,

nor of human decision

or a husband’s will,

but born of God.

¹⁴ The Word became flesh 

and made his dwelling

among us.

We have seen his glory, 

the glory of the one and only Son,

who came from the Father,

full of

grace 

and

truth.

John 1

Jesus

saves.

The gatekeeper opens the gate for Him, and the sheep

listen to His voice. He calls his own sheep

by name and leads them out.

When He has brought out

all his own, He goes on

ahead

of them, and His sheep

follow Him because

they know his

voice.

But

they will

never follow a stranger;

…in fact, they …..will run away….. from him…

because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.

John 10

Words for

the wise

……………………………………………….them.

²⁴ A dispute also arose among

……………………..them.

as to which of

………………………………..greatest.

was considered to be

…

²⁵ Jesus said to them, 

“The kings of the Gentiles lord it over

……………………………………………………………them;

and those who exercise authority over

…………………………………………………………….them

………………………. Benefactors.

call themselves 

…

²⁶ But you are not to be like that.

Instead, the greatest among you should be like the

……………………………………………………………………..youngest, 

and the one who rules like the one who

…………………………………………………….serves. 

²⁷ For who is greater, the one who is at the table

or the one who

………………………serves?

Is it not the one who is at the table?

But I am among you as One Who

…………………………………………………….serves.

Luke 22

⁹ To some who were confident of their own righteousness 

and looked down on

…………………………………everyone else, 

Jesus told this parable: 

¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, 

one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 

¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed:

‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people

—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this

……………………………………………………………………………….tax collector. 

¹² I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

¹³ “But the tax collector stood at a distance.

He would not even look up to heaven,

but beat his breast and said,

‘God, have mercy on me,

………………………………………..a sinner.’

¹⁴ “I tell you that this man, rather than

……………………………………………………………the other,

went home justified before God. For

all those who exalt themselves will be …….

………………………………………………………………..…..humbled,

……….

…………………………………………………………………… exalted.”

and those who humble themselves will be ,,,

Luke 18

Leaves and Roots

The roots feed leaves,

The leaves feed roots,

Working so fine together.

But a transplant is done,

And the roots are damaged,

And the leaves begin to wither

and die from their ends, waiting

for roots to feed the leaves again.

But shaven roots must grow to heal

drying leaves and yet shaven roots

need drying leaves to heal the roots.

After a time of waiting… Roots feeding

leaves and leaves feeding roots, after

a time of leaves patiently waiting for

roots and roots patiently waiting on

leaves, both waiting on the Planter

to both water and bring back

life for growth, later

bringing forth

fruit.

Together,

we are all waiting on God

Do

not merely listen

to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do

what it says. Anyone who listens

to the word but does not do

what it says is like someone who looks

at his face in a mirror and, after looking

at himself, goes away and immediately forgets

what he looks

like. But whoever looks

intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues

in it—not forgetting what they have heard,

but doing

it—they will be blessed

in what they do.

James 1

Jesus loves His people.

(Love country, people, and culture?)

But, boy, did He ever get in the leader’s

Faces over culture, human traditions, religion!

Ask a goldfish, “How do you like your water?”

She most likely will say, “What water?”

How do you like your religion?

“What religion?” you say?

Human traditions in

our faith is

religion.

Church

Is God’s people,

Not buildings,

For starts.

“Where two or three

Are gathered in

My Name,

There will

I be.”

Jesus

Though, one day, we may leave buildings behind,

Jesus leaves with us, still living among us.

Leaving the religion behind.