John 21:22

(Editor’s note: Christiaan here, realistically William will be in the hospital until the weekend, I’m covering until then, and I’ll probably spend the rest of the week somewhere in this chapter, I hope you enjoy the Gospel of John as much as I do!)

Verse of the Day Devotion: John 21:22 (NLT)

Jesus replied, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.” – John 21:22 (NLT)

This is one of the few times where Jesus had a sharp reply to one of his disciples. Normally Jesus would respond like this to someone who was disingenuously trying to trap him, or in the case of something that was objectively evil. (You can read about one of those times where Jesus had a flash of anger. I wrote about it earlier in the year on May 29th and you can read about it here.) So, let’s get a little bit of context. Jesus has been resurrected, he had appeared to the disciples who keep not recognizing him, he had just had a private conversation with Peter, and then eaten with the disciples. Peter and Jesus go for a walk and John begins to follow them.

Peter, who had just been reconciled as a disciple (it’s kind of a convoluted series of events and the basis for my next two verse of the days) and been given a commission of his own, hears John following him and according to verse 20 turns around and sees John, he then asks jesus, “What about him, Lord?” to which Jesus replies with our focus verse, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You follow me.”

“What about him, Lord?

Whataboutism, is beyond crippling to our daily lives. I remember when my mom used to discipline my sister and I, whenever I got in trouble, I would seem to point out the fact that either it wasn’t my fault because someone did something that I was only responding to and my response was thus justified… OR, I would ask to make sure that the other party (often times my sister) was punished appropriately. It was mildly infuriating, but as my mom would always wisely respond to my protests, “You’re responsible for your actions. It doesn’t matter what anyone else does, or how wrong, they were. By responding in that way, you’re guilty of doing wrong in the same way.”

Now that I’m older, I appreciate that advice, and it’s guided me through multiple interactions that could have gone worse if I didn’t remember that. I think the world would be a more peaceful place especially in the year 2020 with all the self justified rioting, looting, and wanton destruction of property due do to injustices, both actual and perceived if everyone’s mom’s had been like mine in this and many other respects. “Group X did bad thing, therefore I’m ok to do this other, potentially worse thing!” or “Yes, I did X action, but that was only to bring light to Y injustice” based on this verse how can we assume Jesus would respond? I would argue he would say, “What is that to you? Follow me.”

Outside of a justice/punishment perspective, “What about him, Lord?” is crippling to our walk with God. Whether it be the envies or lusts of the things of others, “We’re both Christians, how come she has that good job and that nice car?” or “Wait, I’m a Christian, and my life is complete crap, yet this guy is perhaps the worst of all sinners I know, and him life couldn’t be better.” But it doesn’t stop there. In Peter’s case, his potential envy wasn’t over material or other things, it was of something good, mayhaps even Godly. I mean, I’ve had to focus on this, and remember this lesson.

I mean look at it. Peter is walking with the resurrected messiah, he had spent his life waiting for. He had just had a private meal with him, was reconciled with God himself in a really special way. And then PERSONALLY given a commission and his calling in life. And what’s his first response after this. “What about John, Lord?” I mean, if I had been Jesus, I feel like I would have wanted to grab Peter by the shoulders and be like, “Dude, listen.” *snap snap* “Focus. Look at me. Look at me. What did we just talk about? You. Follow me.”

It should be noted that while Jesus’s words’ and tone based on the tenses of the greek is sharp, Jesus isn’t belittling or elevating one disciple over another, but instead telling Peter to not worry about what John’s calling is, because John’s calling is not Peter’s calling. And Peter’s calling isn’t my calling. God’s timing isn’t my timing. It took John until he was in his 90’s before he finished the work God had prepared for him; Peter had 66 years, and Jesus only 33 – Jesus was much more efficient.

I mean, in my own life, I was 35 before I got my first full time vocational ministry job. I had been called and prophecies had been given since before I was a year old. I had dutifully served and volunteered in church most of my life, went to school, got my masters, and did nothing with it because I was at a secular job. I remember confiding in one of my groups, that I was really struggling with the fact that kids I had discipled had gotten full time jobs as pastors without near the training, or experience I had. I was again reminded of this verse by a friend of mine. Little did I know at the time, however, that God was preparing me. At my current job, I’ve pulled on past experiences in every job I’ve held. I see now how God is using everything for his glory. BUT, if I had let my whataboutisms fester, and I had become bitter, angry with God, or worse with his people. I may not have been ready for the opportunity I had been given.

Anyway. When you’re walking with Jesus, may you not stop, turn around, and focus on others. May you not let what God is doing in others’ lives affect you. May you not justify your actions by others. May you choose to not ask “What about them, Lord?” and most importantly, may you follow him.

Matthew 16:24

Verse of the Day Devotion: Matthew 16:24 

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” – Matthew 16:24 

Earlier in this chapter, Jesus asks His disciples an intriguing question.  “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Matthew 16:13b.  They answered with several names, John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the other Prophets.  Then He asks the same question, this one specifically to them.  “But who do you say that I am?”   Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:15b-16.   He then blesses Peter and says this was revealed to him by His Father in Heaven.

 Shortly after this, Jesus foretells His death and resurrection.  “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.”  Matthew 16:21.  Peter than took Him aside and told Him “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” Matthew 16:22b. After which Jesus responded, “But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” Matthew 16:23.  This is a strong rebuke to Peter.  Not long before, Jesus blessed him because he heard from God and told all that He was the promised Christ, God’s Son.  Now, Jesus rebukes Peter for not looking at what God was doing through Him, but what man wanted.

Jesus had just declared what it would mean to fulfill the role of Messiah (Verse 21), that being to suffer many things from the Jewish leadership, and then be killed, but after this rise from the dead after three days.  Now, He addresses the disciples and spells out the consequences of following Him.  He does this in two parts.  The first is “If anyone wishes to come after Me,” Matthew 16:24a.  This question can be worded as “If you are really willing to follow me.”  He is with them now, but He will die at the hands of the Jewish leadership.  Were they truly willing to follow Him wherever it took them?  Then Jesus explains what truly following Him means.  “he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” Matthew 16:24b. 

First, they must deny themselves.  They must renounce any selfish pursuits that get in the way of pursuing Christ.  Second, they must take up their cross.  They must embrace any situation which God has appointed for them, and suffer through any trials, troubles or difficulties he may have to endure when walking the way of a true Christian.  Even if it means their death.   And they must follow Him.  They must imitate Jesus, do what He does, suffer all that is required to do the will of God and please Him and His Father. 

And He not only spoke these words to them, but to us as well who desire to follow Him.  These days are becoming more difficult.  Christians are being looked down upon, ridiculed, and sometimes enduring abuse at the hands of those who hate us.  And it will only get more difficult as we get closer to His return.  So, do we desire to follow Him more than anything else in our lives?  Do we submit our lives to Him, renouncing our own likes and pursuits when they get in the way of His desires for us?  Are we willing to endure anything no matter what to continue following Him?  These are difficult questions.  However, this should be our goal as Christians.  And remember, God will always be with us and give us the strength to endure anything if we sacrifice all for Him.  “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries. 

Ephesians 2:10

Verse of the Day Devotion: Ephesians 2:10 

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:10     

This focus verse opens our eyes to the truth that we had little to do regarding our salvation.  However, the one part we played in this was our choice to be saved.  “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38.  And, “But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” Romans 10:8-10.  We need to repent of our sins, confess Him truthfully as Lord and believe Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead so that we may also rise to life being once dead in our sins, then we will be saved.  And this must be from our very heart, and not simply through actions. However, from this point forward, there is nothing else we can do, it is totally God’s work that changes us from dead to living. 

Let us look at the flow of the beginning of this chapter.  “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.  Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” Ephesians 2:1-3.  We were spiritually dead in our trespasses and sin, with no way of correcting our situation at all.  We were all destined for an eternity separated from God. 

However, by the incredible love and grace of God, we have the opportunity to repent and accept the forgiveness provided by the work of Christ.  “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:4-7.  Because God loves us in a manner beyond our understanding, He provided a means by which we can be forgiven, making us no longer dead in our sins but alive in Christ.  And because of His incredible act of love, we have a future where we will be with Him for ages unending where we see His immense grace and love, in His amazing kindness through Christ. 

And all this is available to us only because of the work and grace of God.  “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9.  Our salvation has nothing to do with any works we may do.  For anything we attempt on our own regarding our salvation is fruitless, for it required a perfect sacrifice, which we could never be for we had sinned.  It is completely the work of God, for if we could address our sins, we could then save ourselves by works and thereby have a reason to boast.  “Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.” Romans 3:27-28. 

Therefore, with all that was said above, it is God who does everything.  “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10.  We are saved because of what Christ did, because He died to pay the penalty for our sins.  “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:3-4.  We are His workmanship, for it was through His death we died to sin, and it is through His resurrection that we are raised up as a new creation in Christ.  Always remember, we needed salvation because of what we did, but are saved because of what He did.  “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17.  And because we are new creatures, we are His workmanship created because of Christ.  “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10.  This new person was made, in love, to do the work of God which He prepared us to perform.  So let us step out and fulfill our calling which He prepared us to do for His glory.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Verse of the Day Devotion: 1 Thessalonians 5:18 

“In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18     

This can be at times a difficult passage.  In verses 16-17  we read, “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17.  What Paul is saying here is our joy should be because we have God watching over us and living within us.  It should not be based on our situation or our temporal feeling.  And with this, we should be praying constantly to our loving God.  The one who created us and saved us.  The one who guides us in every way that He desires us to go.  And we should trust His guidance that goes where He leads us.

And then we come to our focus verse.  “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  1 Thessalonians 5:18.  Why can this be a difficult verse?  Because sometimes our situation can be less than positive.  Who wants to experience tribulation?  Not many I know.  However, Paul writes to the Roman church the following, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.” Romans 5:1-2.  As Christians, having been justified, we have peace with God.  Our relationship has been restored and we exult in the hope we have for now and our future.  However, next he speaks of how we should be regarding tribulation.  “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Romans 5:5.  What we need to understand is that we must trust Him in all things, even in trials and tribulations.  Notice, tribulation brings perseverance, which then brings proven character, which brings hope.  And hope does not disappoint, because we know that He who stood with us in past days, will support us in future days.

Because of the above string from tribulation to hope, we see the why of one of the more popular verses in Romans.  “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28.  God will bring a good out of everything for all who love God.  Look at all the old testament stories of tribulation that brought about good, as an example, Ruth.  Her husband died, she left her home to go with Ruth, suffered much, but God was with her and she gave birth to Obed whose line brought first David, King of Israel, and ultimately Jesus, the son of God.

It is hard to go through tribulation.  But we also must understand that God knows all things.  “Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;” Isaiah 46:10  Nothing happens that God did not know would happen.  There is nothing that surprises God.  And with this, and the fact that all things work toward our good, then we have reason to give thanks to God in everything.  We must see tribulation as a means to bring about some good.  And allowing God to use us in bringing about good is God’s will for us.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

James 2:1

Verse of the Day Devotion: James 2:1 

“My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.” – James 2:1        

In this verse, James is laying out the command that we are not to show favoritism toward anyone.  We are all one body together and we all have different functions within the body.  And none of these are more important than another.  Let us look at the next couple of verses that lays it our perfectly.  “For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, you sit here in a good place, and you say to the poor man, you stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” James 2:2-3. This is not right in any shape or form.  How can we judge someone by their appearance?  If we do, we are not judging by God’s standard but by our own.

Lets look at these two examples.  I will assume that we do not know either.  First, if we show favoritism to the rich man, it is probably because we feel it will be to our advantage.  We will be with a prominent and probably important person.  If we can develop a relationship with him, it could help lift our stature in the eyes of others.  They will see that we are with him and this may help us to gain greater esteem.  And by placing this rich man away from us at the same time we believe this will add to that advantage.  We may not think this way, but if we favor one thing over another, it is because we believe we will benefit from it.  And unfortunately it is the same with people.

Now, lets look at how these two people would take what we have done.  The rich man will see he has an advantage because we have accepted him immediately.  But what of the poor man?  Will he feel accepted?  No.  And this is probably how his whole life has been.  We just look at him and determine there is no advantage of being with him, so we set him aside and leave him alone.  How does this make the poor man feel?  Probably rejected once again.  Is this how we wish to be treated?  “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.” Luke 6:31.

Now, I am not trying to accuse anyone.  I am simply describing this idea to an extreme.  What I am saying is that all people need to know they are as accepted as anyone else.  When I was growing up, I was ostracized by most of the kids in school.  I grew up in a poor family, wore hand-me-downs or cheap versions of clothing.  I wanted friends, but many would not give me any time, but hung out with the popular ones.  Finally, I found someone in my same position and I finally had a friend.  It was hard and debasing.  No one should ever treat anyone this way.  And God does not want us to favor one person over another.  We are equal in His sight.  He loves us all equally and provided salvation to us equally.  We are to be like Christ; therefore we are to treat everyone the same.  I pray we can, as children of God, fulfill this and show love to everyone we meet.  Who knows what incredible work can be accomplished by this simple act of love.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.