This month of October is a 31 Day Challenge with Hello Mornings, and our group is using “31 Days in the Gospel of John” by Susan Chamberlain Shipe as our devotional this month. This month, each Tuesday, I’ll be sharing glimpses of our morning conversations as we delved into this Gospel:

• It all begins with The Light. As I read John 1:1-5, three things jumped out at me: 1) The Word already existed; 2) The Word gives life to everything and everyone; and 3) The Light shines in the darkness. This should bring us such hope that no matter what we may be facing God already knew, He will bring life, and He will shine into our darkness. It all begins with The Word, and the Word, the logos, is Jesus. With Him in our heart, and His Word alive and working in our lives, we can bring His Hope to those around us. “The darkness can never extinguish the light”. No matter how hard life becomes, no matter how ugly the world becomes, no matter the evil, no matter the hurt, God’s Light will never be put out. His Light will forever be shining in this world for my loved ones – long after I am gone. Today I challenge each of us – who is it that we can shine His Light on? Think of it like this – We each have been called to be a beacon. Shine brightly friends!

• Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb. This one verse, John 1:29, packs so much. “The Lamb of God” – the sacrificial lambs in the OT system had to be perfect and unblemished. Only Jesus. It is only through His blood and His perfection, He makes us perfect. What an exchange. His blood alone has erased the stain of sin in our lives. Sacrifice. It isn’t a pleasant word in our world today. Everyone seems to want things easy and quick. Sacrifice will demand something of us. Every day too. The question becomes >> are we willing to make the sacrifice? Truthfully, the answer is – Sometimes I am willing, sometimes I am not. What makes the difference? The answer? Selfishness – if I am permitted to be honest with you all. It depended on how big of a sacrifice it was.  We need to pray for the Lord to help us to be willing to make the sacrifice required for His plans and purposes – no matter the size of the sacrifice.
• “Just do it.” As we read John 2:1-5, we find Jesus attending a wedding. The wine runs out and Mary tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do. We are told in verse 8b, “So the servants followed his instructions.” Their obedience led to something better than had been provided previously. This made me wonder how often my slow obedience, or disobedience, caused me to miss what God had for me in the moment. The author wisely tells us, “When we hear the prompting of the Holy Spirit, we should “just do it.”
• Maintain focus on the Bridegroom. “It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows” (John 3:29, NLT). This one verse has gives us much to think on. John saw himself as the best man. While this is an important role in a wedding, it is not the one the focus is upon. The focus is on the groom and the bride. John wisely reminds us to keep the focus on Jesus. Jesus – the One our lives should point others to. They should see Jesus, front and center, in our lives more than they see us or our accomplishments. My prayer today is that Jesus would increase and we would decrease. May He be big in our lives and we be very small.
• Jesus – The Living Water. In reading John 4:1-42, we are brought to the well where Jesus and the Samaritan women have an encounter. She comes in the heat of the day to draw water while most women would come when it was cooler. She comes to avoid the crowd and the gossip. The gossip about her. She’s an outsider due to her past, her lifestyle of sin. Jesus begins the conversation by asking her to draw Him some water. Imagine- a woman with a checkered past – giving Jesus, The Living Water, a drink to quench His thirst. And in exchange, she receives her life back. She is esteemed, forgiven, and she never thirsts again. The Samaritan woman learned at the well that her vacant spot in her soul could be filled. We all come to “the well”. The place where we learn and experience for ourselves the filling of our souls.

Jesus.
The Light.
The sacrificial Lamb.
The miracle worker.
The Bridegroom.
The Living Water.

Jesus.

You can follow Susan Chamberlain Shipe on her Blog, Facebook, and Twitter .

Today I am joining … Trekking Thru the Week and #RaRaLInkup and Grace Full Tuesday and Tell His Story .