Life Lessons with Dr. Steve Schell

36 - The Most Important Truth

I personally believe John wrote his gospel between the years A.D. 65 and A.D. 70. I think John went to Ephesus to pastor the church in that city after Timothy left to assist Paul who was awaiting execution in Rome (2Ti 4:21; Heb 13:23-24). While in Ephesus John wrote this gospel, even though evidence suggests that the other three gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) had already been written. And certainly he would have known they existed and been shown them if possible, and may have even possessed a copy. But in spite of the existence of those gospels there was a growing confusion about Jesus that alarmed John. People were saying all sorts of wrong things about who He was. Some taught that He was just a man, so He should be thought of as no more than a great teacher or prophet. Others taught something that was opposite from this: They believed He was an angel (Heb 1:4-14). In other words He was a spirit-being of some sort who merely appeared to be human, but He was not really a human. And in addition to the debate about the nature of Jesus there has always been confusion over how God could have a son. So by the late A.D. 60’s there were growing groups of people who believed in a very different Jesus than the one the Apostles had taught. By that time most or all of the original twelve had died (Heb 2:3-4), most during Nero’s persecution (A.D. 64-88) and some in distant lands, so there was almost no one left with the authority to correct such distortions. I think that’s why John, who by then was probably in his late 50’s or early 60’s, gathered his own notes of Jesus’ sayings and refreshed his memory of those precious years when he walked beside Him. Then he sat down and wrote an account that emphasized the things Jesus said about Himself. The other gospels had been written earlier, in a different spiritual climate, so they had not focused on those sayings to the same degree. They focused on Jesus’ miracles and His wonderful teachings. Though frankly, everything a person needs to know about Jesus is in all the gospels. All present Him as both the divine Son of God and an incarnated man, yet somehow the statements in those gospels were being ignored by those determined to distort this truth. So John wrote his own and opened it with an absolutely clear declaration about the divine origin and human incarnation of Jesus (Jn 1:1-18). Then he went on to describe certain signs Jesus performed that fulfilled Old Testament prophesies about Him. But above all, John was careful to report exactly what Jesus said about Himself. 

35 - The Shepherd’s Promise

It’s not enough to only introduce someone to Jesus. We also have a responsibility to care for that person until he or she is strong enough to walk with Him on their own. So many obstacles and dangers confront every new believer that without proper care their new faith can be badly damaged or even extinguished. They immediately face pressures from their own flesh, temptations from the enemy, persecution from those who oppose their faith and even deception from false teachers who quickly recognize a vulnerable mind. In other words, that person is suddenly subjected to a very cruel environment which could overwhelm any one of us unless we have someone to watch out for us. A new believer needs someone to pray for them, someone to model how this walk with Jesus really works, and maybe even someone to take them in if they have been abandoned by others. If left alone, if there is no one to coach, no one to pray, no one to patiently help as they struggle to grow, what began as a beautiful birth can be lost. Their new faith which started out pure can end up so distorted it’s not a saving faith anymore. Unchecked flesh can produce so much bondage and shame that all confidence is gone; unanswered questions can allow doubt to grow until God is viewed with suspicion, not trust.

34 - The Work of God

There are people who misunderstand Paul’s teachings about works vs. faith. They interpret him to mean that humans have no part to play in their own salvation. They think the word “works” means every form of human activity. So they conclude that in order to avoid trying to earn our salvation humans must remain totally passive in the process. But Paul’s warnings about “works” were aimed at people who were trying to earn eternal life by obeying all the rules in the Bible. His point was to tell them that they must receive God’s gift of righteousness by faith because no one can live a life good enough to earn it. He was trying to stop people from attempting self-righteousness, not demand they become passive. 

33 - Always

The question that confronts most of us when we pray is not whether we believe God can help us but whether He will. We wonder if it’s His plan. We wonder if we have enough faith. We wonder if we might have done something wrong in the past that will block His answer. In fact so many uncertainties rush through our mind that even when we ask for help we assume there’s probably some reason He won’t. Our faith that He can is so undermined by our doubt that He will that we function like those who have no faith at all. Believing that God can do miracles becomes meaningless if I have no expectancy that He will. And it’s this issue of expecting a miracle that Jesus deals with in His disciples in this lesson. 

32 - Bread From Heaven

The biblical feast of Passover is based on the death of a lamb. It remembers the night in which God delivered Israel from bondage in Egypt. It’s a deeply spiritual ceremony, and every part is full of prophetic meaning. But the two most essential elements are the blood and flesh of the lamb. The lamb’s blood was smeared on the doorposts and lintel (top crossbeam of a door), and the lamb’s body was roasted whole and eaten. As centuries passed the meal came to include a cup of red wine that above all other meanings was meant to remember the lamb’s blood. It had protected each household from the angel of death who swept through Egypt that night. When the angel saw the blood he passed over that house.

31 - Tested By God

This amazing event is full of spiritual lessons, but here’s the one we want to focus on today: This was a test. Jesus used this event to test His disciples which means, of course, He’ll test us too. He wanted to see how they would respond, or maybe we should say, He wanted them to see how they would respond. What would they do when following God got them into a situation where the need far out weighed the resources available? Would they trust Him to provide, or would they become overwhelmed and turn back? The decision these disciples were being forced to make is the threshold to spiritual fruitfulness. God’s plans are always bigger than our resources… much bigger. And when we arrive at that moment of realization that what He’s asking us to do is impossible, we are being tested. Will we take what little we have, place it in His hands and then move forward, or will we turn back believing that what He’s asking can’t be done?

Those that pass the test move on into a miraculous dimension. What is accomplished through them over time makes no sense at all. Far more people are led to God or receive His care than that person’s limited capacity should be able to produce. The results are unexplainable but undeniable. And everyone recognizes that God must be involved, so the glory goes to Him. 

30 - How To Read the Bible

Would you recognize God if you met Him? How would you know it was Him? And no, we’re not talking about things like a long white heard or brilliant light or voice like thunder. If God became a man, a normal appearing man, would you or I be able to tell that it was Him? What sort of person would He be? What qualities would you expect to find? This is the question that Jesus was asking these leaders. Here was a group of people who read the Bible… a lot, but in spite of all that reading they hadn’t met the God who wrote the Bible. When they read it they saw a book full of rules. So when they actually met God’s Son, someone who was exactly like His Father, they didn’t recognize Him. In fact, they didn’t like Him. 

In the passage we are reading today Jesus is trying to explain to a group of very religious people that if they really knew God, if they had met Him in the pages of scripture, they would know that He had come from God. They had accused Him of blasphemy and arrogance toward God, but the truth was He couldn’t be more humble. He was completely submitted to the Father. The real reason for their hostility toward Him was that they didn’t know or love the God of the Bible. 

29 - Accountable

Everyone is glad to have God’s help when they need it. No one minds a “helper-God” who can be called on in time of need. When people discuss whether or not God exists, they’re usually talking about a particular kind of God, rather than the possibility that there is a spiritual being somewhere. What people don’t like is a moral God, particularly one who will hold us accountable for our actions. That’s the kind of God “atheists” don’t believe in. If you ask an atheist why they don’t believe, very shortly they’ll launch into a list of accusations against God. How could He allow such evil and suffering? And sooner or later they’ll get to their main point: They can’t possibly believe in a God who would send people to hell. 

Now I don’t believe in a God who sends people to hell either. That’s not the God I read about in the Bible. I read about a loving Father who is doing everything possible to prevent people from going there. But I also believe in a God who is just and who will hold people accountable for their actions in this life. I believe that those who refuse to surrender to Him and refuse to call on Him for mercy will be given the justice they have chosen. I believe that, in large measure, because that’s what Jesus taught. And I believe Him. 

28 - Correctable

You and I have been invited into a relationship with the One who created heaven and earth (Ps 8), with the One who formed us in our mother’s womb and knows our thoughts before there is a word on our tongue (Ps 139), with the One who understands the deepest groanings in the human heart (Ro 8:26-27). We’ve been offered the opportunity to consult with Him before we make decisions, to heed His warnings that there is danger ahead, and to be given wisdom to solve the most difficult problem or heal the most troubled relationship. 

The problem is that the right answer, His answer, is often different from our answer. What we would do, what we think is right, whom we would trust is often very different from what He would do, what He thinks is right and whom He would trust in that particular situation. And that difference of opinion creates a real tension inside us. Time and again we’re forced to choose between what seems right, or at least necessary to us, and what seems right to Him. Now you would think that choice would be easy. Of course He knows the better way! But oddly, in the moment when the choice must be made it is usually not easy at all. It requires us to accept the fact that He knows something we don’t and to trust that He is telling us to do this because He loves us, that it’s for our good or at least for the good of someone else. There’s no escaping this reality. Ongoing submission is the very essence of our walk with God, and it will be forever. We must be correctable.

27 - Faith Is a Choice

Faith is a choice, not a feeling. It’s not the ability to talk myself into believing that something has already happened. It’s choosing to believe something will happen because God said it would. There are certain people with very energetic personalities for whom faith seems to come easily, but I don’t think a person needs such a personality to please God. Because faith is a choice, not a feeling. It’s a decision, not an emotion, which means it’s possible for anyone to have faith. We need only to listen to Him and then do what we would do if what He said were true. 

That sounds simple and it is, but being simple doesn’t make it easy. Choosing to believe can be much harder than it sounds because His voice isn’t the only one we hear. There are other voices that press us to do what they tell us to do. And to add to the confusion, in such moments the emotions inside us swirl like a storm. What God says may actually produce painful emotions, and in the middle of the storm we look for choices that will relieve that pain. The danger is that relief can be found in some situations by choosing to believe that God won’t do what He said He would do. Sometimes our will and our emotions seem to have minds of their own. Even though our will chooses to believe that God will do what He said He would do, our emotions still seem to believe He won’t.