splendor of heaven
TRANSCRIPT
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OK to use any portion of this book forany good, any time, anywhere.
We welcome all questions and [email protected]
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Contents
He Gave The Word John 1 5
Its WHO You Know John 2 8
Im Loved John 3 11
What A Woman ! John 4 15
Is God Nuts ? John 5 18
That Amazing Andrew John 6 21
Dynamic Or Dynamite John 7 24
Freedom ! John 8 28
On Cloud Niner John 9 30
Kids Love Him John 10 32
Raindrops Or Teardrops? John 11 35
LIFE death LIFE John 12 38
Forever Happy Feet John 13 41
The Only WTL John 14 44
Garden Glory John 15 48
Steel Yourself ! John 16 52
Knowing God John 17 54
The Night John 18 56
IT IS FINISHED !!!!!!!!!!!! John 19 58
The Reason To Live John 20 61
All We Need Is ___ John 21 64
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Foreword
You can meet God. I mean, without dying.
First step: ya gotta listen.
I know, we cant hook our finger in his belt
loop, shake His hand, take in a Big Game, or
whatever together. But, He talks to us all thetime in a million waysthrough a babys eyes,
a toddlers laugh, a teens energy, a graduates
first job, a brides happy tears, (a runaway
groom who came back), etc.
The Bible tells us that God created the universe
by speaking; (Genesis chapters 1-2). Finally,21st century astrophysics tells us the same
thing, that the universe exploded into exis-
tence. THANK YOU, modern scientists; gladyoure awake!
God created the universe long ago, but Hes
not loafing around. Hes re-creating;(Ephesians 2:8-10). He does it through the
written word and the living Word.
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Question: COULD YOU READ THE BIBLE
FIVE MINUTES A DAY ? It might be the
hardest thing youve ever done, simplybecause its war out there. The enemy knows
where the power is at.
After that initial reading in Gods Word(starting at John chapter 1), go ahead and
check out my feeble comments in this tinybook for that chapter. 21 chapters in all.
21 days.
But, youll forget 95% by the next day. How
about having a notebook and pen nearby to
record those gems! Then you could write
something down each day, if only one word.Maybe a verse that infuses or confuses you.
Maybe a prayer need. Make sure to date it.
Then watch God work. He will.
~ bob mulloy
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He Gave The Word
Please read John chapter 1, especially verses 1-5
and 9-14.
Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates were world class
wordsmiths. Their brilliance dazzled minds inancient Greece when sterling eloquence was
everything. 2000 years ago, if you wereGreek, you spoke the international language.
Nowadays, if youre a Geek.you speak
computer languages! (sorry).
The New Testament was written in Greek.
Embrace the gospel in your heart language
and youll meet God. The first three versesof chapter one introduce Christ as the Word
(Gk. logos). Gods logic!
In this chapter one, the Spirit choreographs
Jesus as eternal, divine, creator, the source of
life, the light of men, the true light, dispenserof eternal privileges as children of God, full of
grace and truth, the Lamb of God, Rabbi,
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Messiah (Isa Almasih in Arabic), Jesus of
Nazareth, son of Joseph, King of Israel, Son
of Man, and much, much more! Believerswill see videos on this for billions of years,
but for now we just get snapshots.
Verse 9. Immanuel is inclusive: eternal Jesushas given light to every red-blooded human
being (pretty much everybody). The Wordincarnate has spoken to everyones heart.
Some respond; others dont. All humanity
has been given one blessing after an-other (vs. 16), having been made in the im-
age and likeness of this God-man. Some peo-
ple live in thanksgiving for those blessings;
others dont.
Andrew did. He was one of the first two peo-ple that Jesus picked out. What was his re-sponse? The first thing Andrew did was to
find his brother... (verse 41). Peter was lost,
but Andrew brought him to Jesus, whichchanged everything.
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Not everyone can be President, CEO, MVP, etc.
But everyone can be wise like Andrew, putting
investments where you plan to spend eternity.Its Who we know personally that determines
who we become forever.
PRAYER: Lord, Im in a war. Ive GOT TOWIN against the darkness. HELP!
Please dont race through this book.
When you do this 21-day tour, youll find sign-post treasures every day along the way. And,
the President of the universe will have some
surprises for you, including love, joy, peace
things that you cant pick up at Walmart.
Questions:1. You got pen and paper?
2. Did you read the Word at least five min today?3. Are you desperate for a miracle? If so, read on.
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Its WHO You Know
Please read John chapter 2, especially verses 1-9.
Indescribably delicious! This wine is so
sweeeeeeet. Who made it? asked the wed-
ding host n hostess, bride n groom. Nobodyhad a clue, except for the servants; they knew;
verse 9.
Twenty minutes earlier, they were ordered to
bring out more wine. HELP! It already wasout. What to do? You cant get new brew
from California raisins! Some of the servants
probably groaned, I dont know where my
next meal is coming from if I lose this job.We need a miracle now!
Thankfully, Jesus was there. He spoke andVoila! No magic, no tricks, just the power of
God. Water morphed to wine. The servants
knew Who did it.
You dont let a man like that walk away.
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You follow Him because no one else in the
universe is worthy of your allegiance.
Besides, the world is scary sometimes.
Some of those servants followed Jesus to
Jerusalem, saw more miracles and believed;
(verse 23). They couldnt deny the empiricalevidence of the God-man. The best perk: He
loved them!
Sorry to say, we anthropoids are a little out tolunch; (with no water or wine). We innocu-ously coast, and soon are out to sea. The
enemy of life says: if it feels good, do it.
Were duped, and we do it. Ashes, ashes, we
all fall down.
But were still alive, so lets learn together!Lets learn from the Chinese pictogram forcrisis. It has two components: danger and
opportunity. In the heartaches of life, the
DANGER is to wimp out or check out. Dontdo that. Instead, use the OPPORTUNITY to
let God in.
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I am standing and knocking at your door. If
you hear my voice and open the door, I will
come in is the solid rock promise of theKing of kings; Revelation 3:20. As long as
youre breathing, Hell keep knocking. GOD
LOVES YOU !
Dont track that beautiful bride and glassy-
eyed groom who welcomed all the guestsexcept the Guest.
Lets follow the servants example. Theircrisis was not their Waterloo, because they let
Jesus do what they couldnt do. Its Who you
know, intimately.
Questions:
1. Who do you know and respect intimately?2. Do you know Christ? What difference does
that make?
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Im Loved
Please read John chapter 3, especially verses 1-16.
Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god
We hear it ad infinitum. Some people have
so many! Hinduism has over 300 million.
Who is GOD? Where is GOD? We may
empirically seek and find, doing so with an
open heart and mind. Actually, we MUST.But first, a reminder about gravity. A fool
denied this law all his life, until one day he
went skydiving without a parachute. Ouch.
Then there was the college professor who
worshipped daily at the idol of tolerance, sanc-
tioned witchcraft sacrifices and demonic dirt-balls, but denied God and all absolutes.
Freshman: Do you mean that everything is
relative and nothing is absolute?,Prof (screaming): Absolutely!
(oops)
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I like Valentines Day, but it was pretty iffy
as a teen. I held my breath all day, hoping
nobody would notice. At age 14, I went tolive at a high school monastery for four years
with a hundred guys; no girls. Valentines
day was a non-event there; (I hope). At age
20 I began to read Gods word. In page afterpage He kept saying the same thing: I LOVE
YOU. He backs it up objectively.
The subjective experience comes next, in the
lab of life, BELIEVING (John 3:16) andTHEN SEEING that Gods love that is
ABSOLUTELY pure, strong, wise, and
inclusive. Everybodys invited to this party
today, tomorrow, every day that the suncomes up, and then FOREVER in Gods
family. He loves you and me, just as we are;(sniff, sniff).
He also loves us too much to leave us as we
are since there are a few hundred things thatneed tweaking in you and me; (that hurt).
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Thankfully, Hes on call to fix stuff
whenever were ready to enjoy the life of
John 3:16 which is qualitative, not quantita-tive. Its astounding, even at those embryonic
first hours of Scripture reading, to hear the
Creator say I love you. Lets walk together.
Have you ever noticed the narcissism of
humanity? In industry, for example, we revelin our genius of Quality Control, as if its our
idea! Were tiny specks on a golf ball. But
we are specks! At the least, we are mirror
reflections of a brilliant Creatorwho, for
example, made the sun, moon and also
made the stars, (Genesis 1:16c) incidentally,
numbering 3,000,000,000,000,000,000,000stars in the observable universe which
is much smaller than the UNobservable partof the universe.
The Bible teaches that God spoke the
universe into existence. He did it with Hisfingertips; Psalm 8:3. Creation was painless.
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Redemption was gut-wrenching. In predictive
imagery, the prophet Isaiahs 53rd chapter
describes the sacrificial Lamb.
That heart-wrenching, back-breaking, hercu-
lean, humongous job got done only because
the ALMIGHTY God of the Universe rolledup His sleeves and used every ounce of
strength imaginable.
Comment:The same God loves you. Hes all you need .
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What A Woman !
Please read John chapter 4, especially verses 1-15.
This woman was fearless. That sometimes
cooked her goose, but not today. She met Jesus.
Then she introduced Him to everybody else,including her five former hubbies; verse 30.
(You thought Hollywood hobos were bad!)
None of the twelve disciples had that muchsuccess their first day on the job. We dont
even know her name. Yet.
She was notorious, and any NEWS FLASHabout her mega-morph would draw bigger
crowds than sky-high freaks at Woodstock.
But, James and John (sons of thunder),Peter and the guys werent wallflowers either.
What was it about her that made her READY
for living water (verses 10-15)? She wastired. She was also perceptive; she knew Jesus
was radically different than the religious good
old boys.
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But she wanted to debate Jesus first. She lost
(we all do). For example, Muslim adherents
are logically correct in believing there is noway almighty God would have allowed Jesus
to die on the cross. He was a good man, a
great prophet. It was Judas Iscariot who died
on the cross as a just punishment for his evilin selling Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. We
must agree with this flawless rationale of onebillion neighbors. Our response? Mercy tri-
umphs over judgment. Jesus could have ran
from the cross, but He ran to it. He startedand finished His work in three short years.
Thats all He needed to show us how to live,
and how to die. In His death, he killed no
one, but made everyone save-able.
God is wise enough and strong enough tohave devised an easy alternate to dying for
thankless humanity. NO WAY I WOULDGIVE MY SON OR DAUGHTER to die for
anybody. No way I would wash somebodys
feet, knowing he would betray me a few hourslater.
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God could have found an easy way, but He
chose the most convincing way: you can trust
the Person who died for you. But this is just apremise until we receive Him as propitiator.
The woman at the well was never thirsty again;
verse 14. Jesus taught her to worship; verses23-24. This included living to love. She also
learned to live in complete confidence, unlike
the somber Sadducees (sad, you see), whodidnt believe God could do anything.
Jesus also taught her to worship in truth. He
became her Emancipation Proclamator, freeing
her from all human hells. She was ecstatic atthis Light in the darkness, never again to hug
half-truths or hang with downright diabolics.
(Yup, deceivers are going down, big time.Check out Revelation 20:7-10 for the final
core.)
Question:If you were that woman, what would you have
done?
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Is God Nuts?
Please read John chapter 5, especially verses 19-25.
A carpenter claims to be God over 65 times in
the 47 verses of this chapter.
Jesus used the pronouns I, me, and my
35 times, making LITERAL reference to hisdeity. In addition, He makes FIGURATIVE
reference 30 times to his deity. Whats your
take on that??? I already know.
By sworn allegiance, youre already bondserv-
ing joyfully (Exodus 21:1-6) Jesus Christ, and
will do so forever. You hear his voice, andgladly follow, because your ears are pierced.
Or, by indecision, religion, or indignation,youve relegated His claims as God to be a
boldface liars deception or a bouncing
lunatics delusion. Theres no middle ground.
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Verse 34. I dont depend on what people sayabout me said Jesus. He rejected any and all
attempts of his fans for a run at the
Presidency. Why? Because His purpose was
eternal, not ephemeral.
Jesus did miracles everyday, exemplified in
this chapter, instantaneously healing an inva-lid who had suffered 38 years; verses 1-13.
Unfortunately, the religious elite of the day
were so earthly-minded they werent anyheavenly-good. They wanted to kill Jesus;
verse 11. Why? Because He spoke the truth
about them. The whole world had gone after
Jesus, not them.
Pietys proponents should be glad that God
came to earth, loving everybody, raising thedead, giving sight to the blind, freeing the
demonized, etc.
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But most folks arent glad. They prefer profits
to prophets, and certainly not the Creator of
heaven and earth. Hes bad for business.Jesus was undaunted. He is unconditionally
committed to imperfect people; John 5:24.
Put your ear to his heart, and with each beatyoull hear I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU,
I LOVE YOU.
Questions:1. If you say Jesus was a great prophet
(HUMAN, not divine), how could he be atrue prophet of the true God if he accepted
worship? Wouldnt that make him an ego-maniac, or at least a false prophet, or liar ?
2. Jesus claimed to be God, as do many schizo-phrenic people. If you say Jesus was agreat teacher (HUMAN, not divine), but
neither God nor a pathological liar, you mustlogically conclude that Jesus is a lunatic.
Are you crazy enough to do that?
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That Amazing Andrew
Please read John chapter 6, especially verses 1-21.
What do you do if your brother is big Peter?
Who knows (going back a bit) what Andrews
reaction was as he saw Peter, from day one, andonward. Maybe it was like the school girl who
wrote this letter to Heaven:
Dear God,Thank you for the baby brother, but what I prayed
for was a puppy. ~ Joyce
Verses 5-13. 5000+ people needed a miracle
meal. Andrew stepped up and they all got one!
Andrew had walked with Jesus for severalmonths already (maybe a year?) and had seen
Him do miracles that only God can do. He wasclose to Jesus.
Andrew didnt just hang around Jesus. HeHUNG with Jesus.
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I heard a radio DJ grilling a pastor recently.
The woman reporter was degrading him, asone of his churchs teenagers had just killed
three people. The pastors response was:
These are extremely difficult days for those
families and for us. We are all in shock, andhave wept and prayed much today. We have
no where to go but God. This is all we cando, but this is also the best we can do.
Ive got an awesome nephew named Andrew.God has big plans for him too maybe one
day becoming an awesome servant of the
Savior, just like his dad.
Theres no higher calling.
Questions:1. In your times of crisis, what do you do?
2. Do you have someone like Andrew in yourlife? If not, its probably time to ask for one?
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John 6:35
I am the bread that gives life!
No one who comes to Me
will ever be hungry.
No one who has faith in Me
will ever be thirsty.
JESUS
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Dynamic Or Dynamite
Please read John chapter 7, especially verses 17-
18 and 37-39.
You get to choose. Engage in dynamic
relationship with the Lover of your soul,Almighty God. No regrets, ever. OR,
continued slavery to the enemy of your soul,with the only shred of purpose (per the
Scumbag) being to end well by dynamiting
somebody.
Those were the only two choices if you lived
in Palestine in 33 A.D. John chapter 7 is the
volatile drama of the Feast of Tabernaclesthat year. For Jesus, it was a roller-coaster
week: rejection (by family and community),teaching the Word, being branded as demonpossessed, being subject to murderous mobs,
seeing many come to faith, more teaching,
more rejection and danger.
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Karl Marx was right about one thing. When
denigrating religion, he was correct in seeing
religion as opiate. Yet he failed in not seeingthat absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Though he castigated artists and thinkers,
his communism in actuality simply bred a
different type of elite. In reality, societyshierarchy is typically and hopelessly inflated
by egotism. Such was the noxious narcissismof religion in first century Palestine. They
gladly nailed their King.
Verse 17. Jesus told pretenders that they
could know Gods truth, if they would be
willing to live it. They werent willing. They
didnt want Heavens banquet. They enjoyeddumpster delights.
Verse 20. We get a clearer but sadder look atthose religion leaders. They couldnt win the
debate against Jesus. So, they simply accused
Him of being a demoniac. When they sawhonest seekers believing in Him, these new
believers were labeled as deceived; verse 47.
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When a man of integrity (Nicodemus) ap-
pealed to the due process of law, he was
mocked as lawless; verse 52.
Verse 37. JESUS STOOD UP AND
SHOUTED: If you are thirsty, come to me
and drink! Hes not sitting around. Hesstanding, knocking at your door.
Marx correctly criminalized religionists as
pimps and parasites. Without a dynamic
relationship with the risen Christ, all you getis decadent dominion. It anesthetizes, at best.
At its worst, it annihilates.
Will pompous mankind someday totallyvaporize everybody, or just the aged, the
handicapped, the poor? It doesnt have to bethat way.
The Almighty has provided Life for those
who will humbly receive. THEN you havesomething priceless to share all the time with
anyone.
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Verse 38. Jesus says: Have faith in me, and
you will have life-giving water flowing from
deep inside you, just as the Scriptures say.
Incredible ! This WELL will never run dry.
Questions:1. Have you chosen life over death?2. Have you tasted the living water? Is it good
enough to share with someone else? Lets
do it !
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Freedom !
Please read John chapter 8, especially verses 32-36.
Jesus was homeless, in the sense of not having
a permanent address in this passing world.
Verse 1. Everyone went to his home, butJesus went to the mountains.
But Jesus was at home with his Father all the
time. Thats the source of freedom. NOT
religion, but relationship with the living God.
Jesus lived in that dynamic liberty, despite any
and all challenges. The truth frees.
To the degree that we neglect Life, we may be
Mardi Gras party animals par exuberance, butwill remain wallflowers and clueless forever.
Verse 32. The big IF. We must hold to His
teaching, but thats IMPOSSIBLE if Hes notholding us. If Hes not living in us, by His
Spirit, no way He can work through us.
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Thats why, back in John 1:12, were invited
to receive Jesus personally. Anybody canbelieve, something even demons can do,
according to James 2:19. They can believe
and dynamite at the same time!
Thats why, back in John 3:3, Jesus said I tell
you for certain that YOU MUST BE BORNFROM ABOVE BEFORE YOU CAN SEE
THE KINGDOM OF GOD. If were not born
from above how could we ever hold ontosomething from above? Wed keep dropping it.
Many people believed when it was convenient,
when free food was abundant. But, it looks likemany had build their house on the sand;
(Matthew 7: 24-29).
Questions:1. What does freedom mean to you?
2. Do you have freedom in Christ? How couldyou say that?
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On Cloud Niner
Please read John chapter 9, especially verses 35-41.
The light of the body is the eye. For that
reason, some people didnt know that this
guy was the former blind man: theyd neverbeen able to look into his eyes!
Having dual blindness (body and soul) is
reversible, by Jesus.
But its tough, even for God, if youre
religious. He healed the man whose eyeswere blind, but couldnt heal the men whose
heart was hard. Jesus said, When your
eyes are bad, everything is dark. If the lightinside you is dark, you surely are in dark
Matt. 6:23.
Verse 24. The temple leaders were lucid.
They said, We KNOW that Jesus is a sinner.
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Lets call this former blind man On Cloud
Niner because he probably yelled out I can
see I can see, when Jesus opened his eyes,then promptly hijacked the nearest Naboo
Starfighter and went on the highest joyride in
history. (light hyperbole).
Verse 25. In the second interrogation session,
when the bosses were still lounging in theirlegalities, Niner spelled it out: All I know
is that I used to be blind, but now I can see!
We need to be like Niner. We dont need
much to be forever safe: we just need to see.
We need to move to Light Street.
Question:
Niner got a miracle. Did you get yours?
Jesus said: Heaven and earth will pass away,but my words will never pass away.
Weve got to stay in the book.
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Kids Love Him
Please read John chapter 10, especially verses 1-11.
When truckers are in trouble (lost, famished,
falling asleep at the wheel) but are saved
just in time, they transmit Thats a big 10:4.
John 10:4 is bigger. It comes with EternityWarranty. But, its useless, UNLESS we
confess that we are homeless, hopeless, and
helpless. Were lost sheep, blind, deaf, anddumb, harassed by enemies on every side,
especially inside. Its really bad when some-
body yells to you saying Hi, FRUITCAKE,
and you answer Lo, NUTMEG. (sorry)
Were collective wackos, mired and maroonedin mediocrity, light-years from where wewanna be, and desperate for miraculous
metamorphosis because we know nothing else
will work. No problem; 2 Corinthians 5:17.
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When we begin to see our sin and run to the
Shepherd, we live. When he has led out all of
his sheep, he walks in front of them (verse4). If all hell breaks loose, so what! Were
adopted by the Almighty.
The eristic rationalist mocks only himselfwhen he epithets there is no God, but a fool
is worse. A fool incarnates NO, God.
Dont do that. Jesus is the Shepherd. All we
have to do is follow.
Seven-year-old Josh asked his public school
teacher: Whats the most famous thing in the
Bible? She answered Psalm 23 and read itto them. They liked it, and voted to memorize
it, so she gave them 6 days for those 6 verses.
Josh was really pumped to do this, but it was
a struggle. He couldnt memorize! It was
totally frustrating! He could barely get half-way through it.
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A week later the kids got their chance. Some
opted out; most got it verbatim.
Josh was hopping with excitement! (Got the
picture?) He was literally JUMPING for joy!
When it was his turn, he ran to the micro-
phone and proudly proclaimed, The Lord ismy Shepherd, and thats all I need to know.
We gotta learn from children. And follow
them following Him.
Questions:1. Can you hear the Shepherds voice in John
chapter 10? Did you make a notation?2. Are you experiencing any dark valleys
now? Maybe its time to read Psalm 23.
Its got a great ending!
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Raindrops Or Teardrops?
Please read John ch. 11, especially verses 32-35.
The heart of God is the source of rain. Whatwe dont know is how many raindrops are:
1. intentional (because He likes greenery,and watching boys make mud-pies); or
2. emotional (because He loves you and
me, and hurts when we do).
I ran out of tears at age 14. Saying bye to
family, and hi to 104 guys in a monasterydorm was tough, even though it was my
choice; I wanted to be a Catholic priest.
Home was 22 miles away, but seemed like a
million. My folks and siblings brought a
care-package every Sunday. It was so goodto see them, (plus the chocolate chips).
I fought the tears as we waved goodbyes, but
once that little VW was down the road thedams would burst walking through the dimlit
hallway and up to 3rd floor.
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When you love people, you want to be WITH
them. Jesus left the splendor of Heaven for
you and me. Then He made friends all overthe place, including Lazarus, who died young.
Jesus reaction? Verse 35. Jesus wept. The
shortest verse has the longest history.
Jesus was/is a real man. Gutsy and gracious,
strong and steady. Just like us! (Ha, ha.)
Jesus wept because of His greatness, not be-
cause of any weakness. The bystanders said:See how much he loved Lazarus; verse 36.
At this point, our Arab friends, whether
Christian or Muslim, should shout
ALLAHU AKBAR meaning God is
great. How and why? Because the true Godloves all the time. His home, Heaven, is fullof love all the time. And ANYONE can get
in, providing your heart is full of love, some-
thing that you get from Jesus. ALLAHU
AKBAR because He is full of holiness,
power, wisdom; and love for the unlovely.
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GOD IS SO GREAT-FULL! Jesus probably
wept many times on earth. He also modeled
grace all the time, for example, praying fromthe cross that God would forgive the mockers
and mercenaries. Stephen, a deacon, followed
in Jesus steps, per Acts 7:60. God is great!
Your god is too small if all he can do is inflict
pain and poison on your enemies. That kindof god is not worthy of our eternal allegiance,
is he? Is that kind of god really God?
Life begins with agape, the unconditional
commitment to imperfect people; then it
grows in grace (verses 35, 36), power (verses
43, 44), and wisdom (verse 45).
Questions:1. What does Jesus wept mean to you?
2. Jesus says If you live by the sword, you willdie by the sword. Please love while you can.
3. 1 John 1:6-10 should be required reading forall suicide bombers. It might bring lightbefore its too late.
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...LIFE death LIFE
Pls read John ch. 12, especially verses 24-33.
Imagine a sub sandwich a million miles long.
Thats life. Cut it in half and put an inch of
limburger cheese or something else thats grossin the middle. Thats death. Now close it up.
Thats life again, as a timeline, though timelessforever.
Death is so negligible, with nearly no signifi-cance other than a signpost or a stepping-stone.
We often cant smell past our nose, and even
long-noses can be short-sighted! We think,for example, that death is the end. Thats
REALLY DUMB. Think about it. If anything,death has value because it is NOT an end. Itsa bridge. A one-second swinging door, two
seconds into your immortality.
Verse 24. Enroll in college-course Farming 101.
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Or learn from Jesus: I tell you for certain that
a grain of wheat that falls on the ground will
never be more than one grain unless it dies.But if it dies, it will produce lots of wheat.
Exhibit A.B.C. (Assassination, Brutalization,
Corruption) is good Friday. Not just any-body died that day. SOMEBODY died.
Figuratively also, Gods children must die to
pet philosophies and arrogant ambitions:
WHATEVER diminishes grace or dilutestruth. Why? Gods plan for us is higher than
anything on earth, and higher than anything
above the earth; Jeremiah 29:11-13.
Besides, a thousand years from now, nobody
will be asking Whats new in New York, hotin Hollywood, cool in Colorado! People willbe asking Whats the KING of Kings going
to do next? What new universes will the
Carpenter of Nazareth make next?
Thats all thats going to matter!
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The Muscle Man of all time and space be-
came the Savior of our race, embracing infi-
nite pain as our scapegoat:
Christ was truly God. But he did not try to
remain equal with God. Instead he gave up
everything and became a slave, when he becamelike one of us. Christ was humble. He obeyed God
and even died on a cross. Then God gave Christ
the highest place and honored his name above all
others. So at the name of Jesus everyone will bow
down, those in heaven, on earth, and under the
earth. And to the glory of God the Father everyone
will openly agree, Jesus Christ is Lord!
(Philippians 2:5-11)
Questions:1. Spiritually speaking, are there areas in your
life that are not dead yet, but they should be?2. Spiritually-physically speaking, when its
time to die, all you have to do is die, if youreready. You may have God, but does Hehave you. 1 John 5:11-13.
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Forever Happy Feet
Please read John chapter 13, especially verses 1-17.
The 12 disciples had no clue what Jesus was
going to do. Ive been to a few foot-washing
services that were announced and planned inadvance. I guess nobody wanted to wash
somebodys toenails that hadnt been cleaned
since kindergarten, or strip socks that couldstand on their own.
Verse 1-9. Those 24 feet were light-years from
being sterilized. They must have stunkseriously. Jesus love wasnt warm fuzzies;
it was washing footsies! His upper room
goal was to wash hearts; verses 1,8,10,17,20.
Contrast with Judas Iscariot whose goal wasgold; verse 2,18b, 21-30. His feet got washed,
and he joined the Last Supper, but
Jesus prioritized internal cleansing, not mere
external washing: You know these things, and
God will bless, if you DO them.; verse 17.
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Verse 30. Moments later, Iscariot left, It was
already night in more ways than one. It was
darker than he imagined. He had befriended(?) Jesus for three years. In the next three
hours, he would lead hells horde (John 18:2)
for INSTANT CASH. By sunrise, Iscariot
would see the light, repent, and return themoney. Too late (Matt. 27:1-5). Maybe he
wondered if Jesus was his only true friend.
For half a century, Nelson Mandela has mar-
velously represented so much that is good andtrue of South Africa. Hes the quintessential
ambassador of that land. In the same way,
Jesus taught about love, from a heart of love;
and loved. He perfectly represented themagnanimous Majesty of heaven and earth.
Jesus is the quintessential ambassador of alltime and space.
Dont try to change your life. An old man
grouched I will come to church after I getstraightened out. Sure enough, he died that
day and was in church the next day.
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Let God change you. It starts with regenera-
tion, being born again; John 3:3; 1 Peter1:23-25. It requires receiving the Word of
God; John 1:12-14; 29; 1 John 5:11-13.
Questions:1. When is the last time your boss, principal,
pastor, or parent washed your feet?2 When is the last time you washed anybodys
feet? Want to make a difference?
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The Only Way, Truth, and Life
Please read John chapter 14, especially verses 1-6.
Dont be worried! Verse 1.
Dont worry, be happy floats from the inter-com after Southwest Air flights touch the
tarmac. Its giddy enough to spawn smiles,despite hearing it a silly sillion times. Some
folks love it and would be dancing in the aisle
except that you got 100 people jockeying for aleg to stand on (in a space for 50 people) while
grabbing stuff from the overhead department
without bonding to garlicky chubby checker
whos already leaning on you. The other 100folks sitting calmly are wondering how dumb
we are, as if tons of people can run out beforethe door opens. I wont tell you which group Istood with. (oops.)
Then youre LATE to work and your headhunt-ing boss says I need you for lunch! What to
do? Hide in the bathroom til quitting time?
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No. Just pig out on limburger, breathe on the
guy, and youre good to go.
My ball and chain is worry. My God is not
tiny, but my trust sometimes is.
Modern society can be mostly scary. A
young boy was asked in Sunday SchoolWhat do you want to be when you grow up?
He answered: Alive! Thats us. We have
earned PhDs in Paranoia.
It shouldnt be that way. The Owner of the sky
has a 24-7-52 forever banquet for us, with
everything we need; Psalm 23:1; Romans 8:28-39; Phil. 4:19.
Believers are already adopted IN the family,and Jesus is not ashamed to call us His breth-
ren; Hebrews 2:11-18. We belong to His
magnificent, magnanimous, safe and secureinner circle; we cant lose. John 14: 2.
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Youre tooling down the road. Youve got to
know where youre headed and how to get
there! Ignorance is not bliss when youre lost.
Ignorance is not bliss when a deranged guy
puts a gun to your head and sneers Are you a
Christian? Ignorance is not bliss when ademonized terrorist pulls out a grenade at
30,000 feet, saying hes ready to die andasking if you are. Are you IN, or not?
I was a walking corpse til age 20. Then theAlmighty reached way down into a bottom-
less pit, found me, and asked You want the
free gift of salvation now or never? I said
HELLO! NOW PLEASE. He said yougot it. Beginning of story.
Nobodys perfect. So how do we get into aperfect Heaven without messing it up? We
receive Mr. Clean, JESUS, into our life. Then,
when its time to live, you do! And when itstime to die, all you have to do is die.
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Verse 6. Love and light, purity and peace,
strength and salvationits all there in Jesus,
the way, the truth, and the life. All we haveto do is COME AND GET IT.
Questions:
1. Buddhism says This is the way. Jesus saysI am the way. Your choice?
2. Jesus says Im the truth. Hes not lying.Can you trust Him now?
3. Jesus says Im the life. Are you ready for
real life! If so, pray in Jesus name!
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Garden Glory
Please read John chapter 15, especially verses 1-5.
A garden is a signature. In this chapter, vine
and branches are mentioned 9 times each, as
is love. Of course!
Verse 1. IS GOD A SUCCESS? I mean, asa wise, strong, and loving grower of people?
Jesus had twelve followers, but lost one. Godhas over 6.6 billion human plants at the
moment, but many have chosen the 666 mark
rather than the 777 message; (Rev. 13:11-
18).Some plants prefer total darkness. Forexample, the fool has said in his heart, NO,
God .
Others LOVE THE LIGHT and are free to
be! To be who theyve been created to be.
To grow! To live fully! (2 Cor. 5:17; John15:1,2,3,5,7,8,16; John 8:31-36; Psalm 1.)
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I recently visited the home of a brain surgeon.
He couldnt find mine so he said Id qualify to
run for President, which intrigued me as I hadjust looked at my watch (or was it my calen-
dar) and it said February 4, 2008, one of the
Super Tuesdays. Brainless and clueless, I was
now ready for Big Politics and the Big Deskwherever they work, or not.
Actually, the surgeon was gone for the week,
so I had the run of his square-block Heritage
Tour mansion and yard. Strolling through hisTropical Forest complete with waterfalls, I
came upon a quote from a renowned statesman
and empiricist:
"God Almighty first planted a garden...
and a man shall ever see
that when ages grow to civility and elegancy,men come to build stately sooner
than to garden finely ,
as if gardening were the greater perfection.
(Sir Frances Bacon, 1625)
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In other words, any engineer can build a sky-
scraper, mall, coliseum, etc. You deal with
predictable physics, inanimate steel, concrete,etc. It takes a lot more to grow graceful but
fragile flowers that can flourish in the midst
of pantheonic challenges, both animate and
inanimate.
To create the universe, the Garden of Eden,mankind, etc. was easy-peasy for God. He
just spoke; Genesis 1-2.
Verse 3. When you accept Jesus into your life
You are already clean... Thats positional
sanctification; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal.3:24. Thats
the best position to be in! (Ephesians chap-ters 1-3).
Jesus took me in when I was 20. Impushing 60 now, but there are still big weeds
in my life. For one thing (the main thing), I
dont love very well. Hes working on that:progressive sanctification; 1 John 1:7-9; and
Romans 8:28-30.
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I got a long ways to go and grow so I might
need to live to be a hundred. Im worriedabout feeling out of place in Gods home.
Despite unending Gardener-love, we often
lust. We wine and dine at the devils deli,
enamored with his tricks and treats, idols andicons, oooohing and aaaahing at the exquisite
table settings, totally unaware that the dinner
music is a death march. Were like Edmundin The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe;
the candy was excellent, but the cost was
excruciating.
Verses 4, 5. Thankfully, love is stronger than
hate, and any candle will always dispersedarkness.
Questions:
1. Who is your gardener? Why?
2. Jesus says hes the True Vine. Are you in?
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Steel Yourself. Trouble Is Ahead !
Please read John ch 16, verses 1-4; 33.
Gods kids get sneak previews! Unlike us,
He is eternal, seeing past, present, and futureat the same time. He gives us glimpses so we
can plan ahead. Whats your plan?
Word on the street says your billionaire
uncle is gonna get decapitulated, decapsized,and even discumbumberated at 5 a.m. tomor-
row. You panic cause your name is not in his
Will, cause he deleted it when you refused tobuy him 10 cheeseburgers at ten pm ten years
ago. What to do tonight? Plan A and B: GET
20 BURGERS ALREADY buzz over, butterhim up, blurt out apologies, say I lubyou (not lube), bounce on his bed affection-
ately (not his lap), coo a little, have beneficent
pens and benignant witnesses standing by, getyour name on that paper. Oh, dont forget to
leave before the other bozos arrive at five.
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Verse 2. Around 33 A.D., Jesus said : Thetime will come when people will kill you and
think they are doing God a Favor. . Contrary
to the platitudes of neophyte historians andnarcissistic theologians, the human race is
NOT moving ahead. Modern men are not any
better than cave men.
Trouble is ahead if you love God more than
gold. You may only see bread and water. Getready. Lets steel ourselves now, so we dont
bend or break when the first wind blows in.
Yet, God has called us to peace. When youchoose Him, youre never alone, hopeless, or
helpless. In verse 33 we read the rock solid
promise of Jesus: I have told you this, so that
you might have peace in your hearts because ofme. While you are in the world, you will have
to suffer. But cheer up! I have defeated theworld.
God is bigger than any problem. Why not remindsomeone about that today?
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Knowing God
Please read John ch. 17, especially verses 1-3.
Are You IN ? Card sharks, before dealing, ask
Whos in? We all like the inside track,
being a member of the cool inner circle,in touch, etc. LOCATION is everything.
You know where youve been (IN a rat-race).
When you trust IN Christ alone, his Spirit
begins to live IN you. Moment by moment,day after day, his Spirit IN you affirms that
youre not alone, and that you have a place IN
Heaven forever. To be in Christ is to belong.
Verse 3. At the last supper, Jesus prayed
Eternal life is to know You, the only true God,and to know Jesus Christ, the one you sent.
NINE TIMES in John 17 the word know
shows up. Its a personal relationship. ItsWho you know, personally.
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When you have Jesus, life is no longer a dressrehearsal; its Opening Night every day and
night! No regrets and no mediocrity living and
walking with the King of Kings; (John 10:10).
And when its time to die, all you have to do isdie. No regrets.
Questions:1. Has Jesus introduced you to the Father?
2. Have you taken time to get to know Him?
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The Night
Pls read John chapter 18, especially verses 1-11.
Vs. 1 When Jesus had finished praying,
he left. He knew this would be the darkest
night of eternity. No one else had a clue.
No human stuck with Jesus in the garden ofGethsemane. God had to send an angel. Jesus
was sweating bullets and was in great pain,
and prayed so sincerely that his sweat fell tothe ground like drops of blood; (Luke 22:44).
Verse 18. It was cold in more ways than
one, because it was night (13:30) in moreways than one.
Beginning around 9 a.m. the next day, Jesuswould experience the vilest darkness of death,
absorbing eternal punishment for the sin of all
mankind. Those hours on the cross SEEMEDLIKE AN ETERNITY because they were!
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Yet, nobody killed Jesus. He laid down his
life willingly. (John 10:17) He was dead threedays. Then HE ROSE AGAIN. You cant
keep God down!
I know our future! At the name of Jesusevery one will bow down, those in heaven, on
earth, and under the earth (Phil. 2:10).
Your knees (all two of them), mine (a couple
more), and those of all humanity WILL bow.
Your tongue, mine, and that of all humanityWILL confess in worship and reverence that
the carpenter of Nazareth is the creator of all.
Questions:
1. Why did Jesus agree to die in our place?2. How should we respond?
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IT IS FINISHED
Please read John ch. 19, especially verses 28-30.
The Lamb of God did it all. He finished the
job of redemption once and for all;
(Hebrews 9:12; 10:2; 10:10); (Heb. 10:14).We cant add a thing. Its finished.
You spit in Gods face when you think you
could somehow merit even a millisecond of
time or a millimeter of space in Heaven.
In reality, WHAT CAN WE DO that is void
of personal ambition that would be a perfect
fit in Heavens trophy case? Hmmm. Askme next week. If I dont get back to you, the
answer is nothing.
For many years, a Bible woman in India
had been sharing the gospel with a wealthy
pearl-diver named Anup. The concept ofeternal salvation based on Gods grace
alone was inconceivable to him.
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Then tragedy struck. His only son Prasad
made an unusually deep dive to retrieve a largepearl oyster. He succeeded, butthe pressure
was too much. He died the next day.
Anup was heartbroken and gained somecomfort from seeing the Bible woman at the
funeral. Though he didnt share her foreignreligion, he respected her. Two weeks later,
she visited Anups home, at which time he of-
fered her the pearl that cost the life of dearPrasad. She answered carefully, agreeing to
accept it on one condition. She said: Thank
you so much. I deeply appreciate this gift,
knowing that it cost the life of your son. Also,I want
to do my part to pay for it. Heres two cents.Ill bring you more money when I can.
Anup was perplexed at first, and then furious.
He yelled at her. What? Thats ridiculous.Get out of house! How dare she suggest that
her feeble efforts or all the money in the world
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The Bible woman then explained that good
works, similarly, were disallowed by God.
He HOME is open to all, but we must come athis invitation, on his conditions. Jesus already
paid the price in full. In fact, our deeds are
repugnant filthy rags to God; (Isaiah 64:6;
Romans 3:11-18).
Anup instantly understood. He was awestruckas this great love of God. He humbly opened
his heart to Christ, and received the gift of
eternal salvation; (Romans 6:23). Needless tosay, he became an empathetic evangelist,
passing out free gifts to whomever would
humbly receive from the true and living God.
Questions:
1. Do you think your good works can measureup to what Christ did? Do you have enough?
2. Will they guarantee your place in heaven?
What if youre wrong?
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The Reason To Live
Please read John ch. 20, especially vss 18-31.
When you form a franchise, start a school,
whatever, you choose reputable board
members. Jesus didnt. He chose white trash.
Verse 1. Mary Magdalene was the firstand foremost eyewitness of His resurrection.
She had ZERO CREDIBILITY for at least
three reasons.1. She was formerly possessed by 7 demonic
guides. Its hard to imagine how gro-
tesque that was.
2. Mary was an outsider, born in Magdala, theTimbuktu of those days.
3. Israel then was dominated by religionsgood old boys whose claim to fame waskilling Jesus. (You wouldnt want ANY of
those guys on your bowling team.)
According to their mantra, women wereakin to dogs.
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The new Mary Magdalene was a walkingmiracle, irrefutably evidencing the power and
love of the true God. She knew that Jesus is
THE REASON TO LIVE.
The Owner of earth and sky has big plans forus:
Not darkness, but delight.
Not gloom, but gladness.Not fear, but faith.
Not lust, but love.
Not envy, but enjoyment.Not hatred, but holiness.
Not strife, but salvation.
Not pain, panic, paralysis, plans, propositions,purposes, pursuits, possessions, but PEACE.
God knows were afraid. Someone counted
the DONT BE AFRAID verses in the
Bible. 365 in all! We need His peace witheach sunrise, because we never know what it
will bring. It might hurt.
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After that first Easter morning, Jesus favorite
sermonette was peace. He was keeping itsimple. (He didnt want to be confused with
Casper the friendly ghost.) John chapter 20
records three times when Jesus said Peace be
to you; verses 18, 19, 26. In reality, He mayhave said it over 100 times that day, as He
went from one friend to another. His messageis the same today.
Questions:1. Are you like the guys, or like Mary
Magdalene?2. God says dont be afraid. Why not put
your hand in His right now? Your Fatherseyes have nothing but joy, peace and love for
YOU. Look up. Youll see!
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All we need is assurance that God loves us.
Not a rinky-dink idol made of steal-able pure
gold that any thug could throw in his bag andpawn for fifty bucks a block away. Not a fig-
ment of imagination. Not an impersonal, out-to-
lunch lord of luscious luminescence.
Dynamic friendship with the Son of God is atonce the most humbling and honored experi-
ence of life. All you need is Him.
A carpenter and his son Jimmy made a sailboat.Jimmy kept it in a basin, using an electric fan to
send it in all directions. One day he took it to
the river, never imagining what would happen.
The wind instantly blew it away. Jimmy wept
for days. About six months later he was walking
with his dad and saw his boat in a display win-dow. They went in and argued with the shop-
keeper that it was Jimmys, but the man was
adamant, saying it was for sale, not giveaway.Jimmy went home determined to work as hard
as he could to buy it back.
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After an eternity of weeks Jimmy returned,
not knowing if it would still be there or not. It
was! He went in and bought it back. Walkinghome, he held it close to his heart, and whis-
pered: For 4 reasons you shouldnt run away
anymore:
First, I made you.Second, I bought you back.
Third, I love you.Fourth, I want you in our family forever. It
will be fun. Please stay.
Jimmy held the boat to his heart and walked
on. If little boats could talk, it would have
said: I love you too.
Questions:
1. Like Peter, we need to come back to God.Are you ready?
2. How could God use me to bring someone
else back to Him today?
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When the storms come,
and your friends leave,
and your money leaves,
and your health leaves,
all you have to remember
is that
JESUS
ROSE
FROM
THE
DEAD.
Because I live, you will live.
JESUS (John 14:19b)
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The Author
Robert John Mulloy is a follower of God.
He serves in Asia with his winsome wife Mary Emily,
his dazzling daughter Amy Christine, and his sweet son
Greg Carver.
Bob left home at age 14 to live in a monastery high
school for four years with hopes of becoming a Catholic
priest. At age 20, his life was forever changed by read-
ing the New Testament and being converted to Christ.
His favorite N.T. book (can you guess?) is the gospel
written by John the apostle. Bob believes that under-
standing the THREE CENTRAL WORDS of John 19:30
everything is done spells the difference between
life and death.
Feel free to check out Bob and Marys website
(www.thegutsyGod.com) to learn more about their life,
and access other devotional materials.
Scripture Usage
All Scripture portions in this book are fromthe Youth Bible Global Edition of
the Contemporary English Version (CEV)Bible translation, used with permission from
the American Bible Society (ABS) 2004.
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