The Cooling Stream

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. (John 15:13)

• Those words express one’s commitment to his duty.
   
• It is a real-life display of the heart of true sacrifice.
   
• Jesus Christ lived out those powerful words within hours of stating them.
   
• The upper room event was followed by communion with the Father at Gethsemane, a series of illegal trials, and then crucifixion before a mocking crowd.
   
• As the Son of God, Jesus could have avoided the suffering, torture, and cruelty.
   
• He was utterly without sin.
   
• He did not deserve to die.
   
• But love, the fuel that drives true sacrifice, drove Him to the cross.
   
• As a result, we are forgiven if we will accept His sacrifice and resurrection by faith.
   
• Have we trusted the One who laid down His life for us?
   
• Only Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, can declare guilty people perfect.
  
  
  

Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me. (Isaiah 49:15-16)

• It is an overwhelming feeling that no one cares anything about you.
   
• It is a real and excruciatingly painful feeling.
   
• But even though people may abandon us, God’s love and presence is assured.
   
• The Lord promises that He will never leave us (Deut. 31:8).
   
• He will be with us wherever we go, always, even to the end of the age (Matt. 28:20).
   
• The Lord will never falter in His commitment to His children.
   
• Even if we have been abandoned by others, we can find confidence in God's promise that nothing will ever separate us from His love (Rom. 8:35-39).
   
• Let us thank our Heavenly Father for His never-failing presence in every aspect of our lives.
   
• We can count on His promise never to abandon us.
   
• Confidence in God’s presence is our comfort.
  
  

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. (Luke 2:52)

• Some of us grew up in a small town.
   
• There was no famous people there, and no busy streets.
   
• But we should be thankful for our quiet and uncomplicated upbringing.
   
• The Lord Jesus also grew up in a small town: Nazareth.
   
• A man named Nathanael asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46).
   
• The Lord Jesus proved that the answer is yes.
   
• Even though He grew up in an insignificant place, He was the most significant person in all of history.
   
• Experience and Scriptures tell us what matters is not where we grow up but how we grow up.
   
• Sometimes we feel insignificant compared to sophisticated people from prominent places.
   
• But we are significant to God, and God can make us strong in spirit and filled us with His wisdom.
   
• What we become is more important than where we are from.
  
  

I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, And on Your wondrous works. (Psalm 145:5)

• Creation displays God’s wondrous works.
   
• When we stop to meditate on those works, we can’t help but be awed.
   
• Our minds and spirits are moved to reflect on the character of the God who created them.
   
• Creation tells us the creative genius of our mighty God.
   
• Sometimes, in the most unexpected moments, in the out-of-the-way places, the Lord shines His glory in this world in order to reveal Himself to us.
   
• Those serendipitous moments are great opportunities to meditate on His wondrous works.
   
• Our God is good and He always does good.
   
• May the goodness of our Creator fill our lives with love and peace.

John 5:16-23

When the Jews discovered that it was the Lord Jesus who had healed the man, they were determined to kill Him because He had done these things on the Sabbath.

The opposition to the Lord Jesus became more intense after this incident, especially when He spoke of working in partnership with God the Father, as an equal.

The Jews understood clearly that the Lord Jesus did indeed claim to be God but they refused to believe Him.

They sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

The Lord Jesus answered His enemies by explaining His equality with the Father :-

• That He has the authority to do all that He sees the Father do.
• That the Father loves Him and shows Him all that He does (this refers to the work of the Father in His plan of redemption).
• That they would see greater works (than the healing of the man at the pool), which would cause them to marvel when He raised the dead.
• That the Father has committed all judgment to the Son who is the Judge of mankind.
• That all should honor Him just as they honor the Father.
  
  God will not give His glory to anyone else.
  
  The implications of this verse are clear!

The Holy Spirit inspired the apostle John to write his gospel so that we would know who the Lord Jesus is, and that believing, we might have life in His name.

If we honour God the Father, then we must also honour His Son, because He is God!