To get this week started off correctly maybe we should remember that our Savior and leader, the Son of God, Jesus Christ prayed for us before he left this world.  And he didn’t just say I’ll pray for you, or “Lord, remember them”.  He was very explicit in his words and they show his love for us and the desire of this hearts for us.

^20-23I’m praying not only for them
But also for those who will believe in me
Because of them and their witness about me.
The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they’ll be as unified and together as we are—
I in them and you in me.
Then they’ll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you’ve sent me and loved them
In the same way you’ve loved me. (John 17, MSG)

And what is so cool is that earlier in the prayer as he is prayer for his disciples,  he added this:

Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life…

and this

I’m saying these things in the world’s hearing
So my people can experience
My joy completed in them.

and this

I’m not asking that you take them out of the world
But that you guard them from the Evil One.
They are no more defined by the world
Than I am defined by the world.
Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth;

Wow,   What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31 (New International Version)) Live boldly for him today, and let others experience the love that you have experienced.

And the thirst.  I can’t drink enough.  Its pretty amazing that my weight is actually staying close to the same, as on Saturday at my nephew’s birthday party I felt like I sweated out 10 pounds.  There was not enough sweet tea in the joint to keep me hydrated.  What a blessing it is to have such a great clean water system that makes it so easy to hydrate during the hot summer months like this.  Even when I am the most uncomfortable, I can still head inside and get a nice cold glass of water and I usually have a shirt that I can change into.  That’s so nice that it almost makes you think you can handle anything.  However, even with that blessing there is still a water that is better.  Its the water that your spirit thirsts for, and unlike the water we drink, it can really quench your thirst.  Listen to this exchange at the Jacob’s well.

Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

⁷When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” ⁸(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

⁹The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

¹⁰Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

¹¹“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? ¹²Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”

¹³Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:6-14 (New International Version)

Wow, what a great promise.  The contentment of having no thirst – mean I think means no sweating!  That’s a great peaceful promise.  A constant source of spiritual refreshment.  A well to to eternal life.  That seems the right place to be.  And then look what Jesus says later in John.

³⁵Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.  John 6:35

Its by belief you can get that living water, and you can be constantly refreshed.  That’s something to consider on this extra hot August days.  Is your spirit thirsty?

IN HIM WAS LIFE, AND THE LIFE WAS  THE LIGHT OF MEN, AND THE LIGHT SHINES IN THE DARKNESS AND THE DARKNESS DID NOT COMPREHEND IT……JOHN 1 VS 4-5

Its been a great experience this spring, taking care of these vines by directing their growth and providing support and water.   And finally what a pleasurable experience walking into the house with hands fulls of fresh produce.  Its a great thing being a vinedresser.  I can only imagine the pleasure the Lord gets in when he observes the fruit we bear.  Check this out – still from the Johns:

¹“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ²He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ³You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

⁵“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. ⁸This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15:1-8 (New International Version)

This is to my Father’s glory!   Yep!  The Father loves to walk into the kitchen with a big grin on his face and an armful of fruit – your fruit!  Live today in a way that glorifies the gardener by producing fruit!    Are you not sure what fruit you can produce?  Take a quick look in Galatians and if you know the song sing along while you read it.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

So for starters, here is the Klingon version of John 3:16

Klingon Language Version
3:16 | nuq ghajtaH moj vo’ the joHHom vo’ the heathen je such as ruled the Ha’DIbaHmey upon the tera’,

I guess!

Second, if you are really interested in tying the bible to Geeks and such,  there is a tween book at Amazon called Bible Freaks and Geeks.  Looks Great!

Third, back to John 3:16,  this time in three versions of Leet (1337), the hacker language from the New Hacker Version

(Light)
F0r G0d $0 l0v3d th3 w0rld, th@t h3 g@v3 hi$ 0nly b3g0tt3n $0n, th@t wh0$03v3r b3li3v3th in hi|v| $h0uld n0t p3ri$h, but h@v3 3v3rl@$ting lif3.
(Medium)
F0r G0d $0 l0v3d 7#3 w0rld, 7#@7 #3 g@v3 #!$ 0nly b3g0773n $0n, 7#@7 w#0$03v3r b3l!3v37# !n #!|v| $#0uld n07 p3r!$#, bu7 #@v3 3v3rl@$7!ng l!f3.
(High)
|=0r 60|) $0 |_0\/3|) 7|-|3 \^/0r|_|), 7|-|@7 |-|3 9@\/3 |-|1$ 0|\||_y b390773|\| $0|\|, 7|-|@7 \^/|-|0$03\/3r b3|_13\/37|-| 1|\| |-|1|\/| $|-|0u|_|) |\|07 |>3r1$|-|, bu7 |-|@\/3 3\/3r|_@$71|\|9 |_1|=3.

And finally here it is from the LOLCats bible.  I am not kidding!

16 So liek teh Ceiling Kitteh lieks teh ppl lots and he sez ‘Oh hai I givez u me only kitteh and ifs u beleeves him u wont evr diez no moar, kthxbai!’

Ceiling Kitteh, are you serious!  What fun.  So pull up you waist band, wear your glasses with pride, enjoy the day, remember 1Cor 9:25-27

25 Dey work hard to get teh medul. (But if dey taekz steroidz dey haz to givv it bak.) We iz workin hard to get a bettr priez. It will last forevr.26 I iz not just runnin around or wavin mai pawz in teh air.27 I work hard to maek mai bodi mai slaev so I wil win teh priez.

Argh!!! Teenagers!!

It’s absolutely amazing how frustrating and hurtful it is to watch your teenagers continually dismiss your advice and ignore your suggestions.  It’s really a stress creator – it makes you want to put your fist into the wall or tear something up.

Oh but isn’t it interesting that we continually do the same thing to our heavenly Father.  We disregard his advice for living, we ignore the suggestions, we create our own paths, and I am sure he wants to scream ( hm, that might have something to do with the whole Noah deal).

But what is really amazing is he doesn’t.  Check out John 8.  With the woman caught in sin he says

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

And then in Hebrews 10 he adds:

¹⁷…”Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”

So no matter how the day goes today, no matter what befalls, remember these verses, you are forgiven, and that provides quite a lot of strength to deal with the day – even to deal with the teenagers – ARGH!

³⁵ Jesús lloró.  – Juan 11:35  Nueva Versión Internacional(NVI)

y ahora el más largo versículo de la Biblia

⁹ De inmediato fueron convocados los secretarios del rey. Era el día veintitrés del mes tercero, el mes de *siván. Se escribió todo lo que Mardoqueo ordenó a los judíos y a los *sátrapas, intendentes y funcionarios de las ciento veintisiete provincias que se extendían desde la India hasta *Cus. Esas órdenes se promulgaron en la escritura de cada provincia y en el idioma de cada pueblo, y también en la escritura e idioma propios de los judíos. Ester 8:9 Nueva Versión Internacional (NVI)

No estoy seguro de lo que este día se trata, pero es una buena oportunidad para hablar a la gente y les deseamos un gran Cinco de Mayo.  Me siento como Nacho Libre.

²⁴ Éste es el día en que el Señor actuó;
regocijémonos y alegrémonos en él.Nueva Versión Internacional(NVI) Salmos 118:24

Well that was fun!  The one of the great things about mornings, its always a new day and new days bring new challenges and provide us with another chance to do things.  Some days you can do things differently – like writing in Spanish.

²⁴ This is the day the LORD has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it. New International Version(NIV) Psalm 118:24

Nobody likes the heel.  ( well i am sure there are a few people out there who do, but really???)  The heal is just not that good.  Of course this immediately took my mind to the sixth chapter of John ( well actually, it reminded me of a verse and a search engine took me to John).

⁴⁷I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. ⁴⁸I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. ⁵⁰But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” John 6:47-51 (New International Version)

So in the John 6, Jesus called himself the bread of life.  He mentions that He is the nourishment that people need.  It a very funny exchange between he and his listeners.  But the point is interesting.  From His word, and his teaching and his gifts, we have all we need.  We have the Bread of life and we are blessed!

And we are to show his love and his life to others. Which means indirectly we offer the bread of life. (Not because of ourselves, but because we point to Him).  So today, what will you do?  What choices will you make that point the people you meet to the bread of life.  Will you be the heel? Or as Amy did this morning, will add peanut butter to the bread that makes it even more attractive.

Live it, and share it.

¹⁴Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests ¹⁵and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. ¹⁶From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over. Matthew 26:14-16 (New International Version)

Yep. Judas, the traitor.  The one who demonstrated his selfishness on the worlds stage.  This is the day where is seemed that Judas sealed the deal the “hand over” Jesus.  We give Judas a really hard time some times, because we know that we are so perfect!  But really, I was thinking this morning about “What are willing to give me if I hand him over?”or maybe “What am I wanting to get that makes me hand him over?” Don’t we find ourselves asking that question some times?

It may not be thirty silver coins, the price of a slave, but it may be something just as cheap.  Or it may be something of more “value” – a job, a thing, a pleasure, a moment?  Its a daily battle for us to continually balance the value of our “stuff” versus the value of freedom from Christ.  I personally find it rather easy to hand over Jesus for “stuff” , as much as it pains me to admit it.  We just have to remember that if we stick with him, we will get all that we ever want.

¹⁰If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15:10-11 (New International Version)

So today, don’t trade Him in.  Stick with him!  Complete your Joy!

Because of that, I felt that maybe I should write about Peter’s three denials in the hours leading up to the activity at the cross, but that felt a little too dramatic.  However it is a constant battle to keep ourselves from answering this question

“Aren’t you one of his disciples?”

This way

“Not me.”

So then I glanced back into the some of the powerful teaching that Jesus laid out in his last few days on this world in a human body.  This is where some serious encouragement is doled out. Check it over in John 15:

¹“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ²He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes^[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. ³You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

⁵“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. ⁸This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Icey!

And then he finishes it this way:

¹⁷This is my command: Love each other

Really, that’s it!  You mean that is all I have to focus on today!  Boy that removes some of the stress. Once again he provides peace -I hope it did for you as well.