An overwhelming statement from the angel Gabriel has been with me these last weeks. Confirming the trustworthiness and power of God he comforted Mary saying, “For no word from God will ever fail (or be without strength)” Luke 1:37 (NIV). It was a comfort for me, because looking at my own life there is so much weakness and failure. How could my service and the ministry be of any value or transforming power, if it relies on me?

Well, it does not rely on me. The word of God is the treasure in jars of clay, and in all human weakness and failure, no word from God will ever fail or be weak. So I pray that God will turn my mind, my knowledge, my love, my senses, my emotions, my speech and my actions towards His precious Word, so that it will not fail in me and in those to whom I have the privilege of teaching the Scriptures, the mighty Word of God.

Preaching

Continuing through the gospel of John, I had the privilege to preach about the light of the world in John 8:12-20. Jesus is clearly teaching that He is the true light of the world and through great promises He prompts us to follow him as the true light. And it is God himself who confirms Jesus as the divine light. With John 8:21-30 I uttered a severe warning against unbelief, since the passage proves that unbelief is deadly, separating, deafening and blinding. John 8:31-36 gives 3 marks of true Christians; the Word is their home, the truth is their outlook, and freedom is their permanent state.

On of my favorite passages in the Bible is John 8:37-47, yet it is one of the most dramatic and most provocative sayings of Christ in the gospels. He clearly distinguishes 2 sorts of childhood, a natural and a spiritual. On the spiritual level He distinguishes them between children of God, like Abraham was, and children of the devil. Whether they are children of God or children of the devil is manifest by either their loving or hateful attitude toward the truth, toward others, and toward God in Christ. The eighth chapter has proven a heavy and sharp passage which is so very necessary in our shallow minded postmodern society. May God prove His Word effective in the hearts of men.

Teaching

In the church Bible Study I have been teaching on the great reformer Ezra, and on the book that is named after him. It is astonishing how God proved His faithfulness, His sovereign power, and His abounding grace in the time after the Babylonian exile. May He once again revive and reform our days after spiritual exile, that Christians will keep on building the spiritual temple to worship God in Spirit and truth, since we know that the Father seeks such worshipers.

For the Lord´s supper I taught on Mt 26:3-13 about the Love of Christ, that was so clearly displayed in that group of people gathered there (see also John 12 for a fuller picture). All of them have experienced Christ´s grace and mercy overwhelmingly. That chapter challenges us, and makes us ask ourselves, “What about our love for Christ? Are we like Mary serving Jesus out of thankful love with what we have?”

May our God pour the love of God in our hearts through His Spirit.