verseoftheday

John 20:17-18 NIV Jesus said...Go instead to my brothers and tell them...Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: I have seen the Lord! And she told them that he had said these things to her. What's a christian? Someone who believes Jesus died & was raised from the dead. Someone who has had an encounter with the risen Christ At this moment, Mary is the only person in the world for who those things are true...she is the first christian...he found her, called her by name, nothing she had done or could do...grace...love Jesus finds us, seeks us like lost sheep, calls us by name #easter #Jesus #unexpected #personal #grace #encounterswithJesus

John 20:16 NIV Jesus said to her, “Mary.” He knew her name, and he knows your name, and he knows my name. Mary didn't recognise Jesus and he simply says her name. It's personal. You can believe that Jesus died for everyone, but he died for you. It's personal He calls you by name #easter #Jesus #unexpected #personal #grace #encounterswithJesus

John 20:14-15 NIV At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.   He asked her... why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?  Thinking he was the gardener... Mary was looking for the wrong Jesus. A dead Jesus. A Jesus she would never have found except he was looking for her. Jesus is alive and bigger than she could imagine...but personal. He sought Mary out with those personal questions...and he seeks each of us...with gentle grace... #easter #Jesus #unexpected #personal #grace #encounterswithJesus

John 11:43, 45-46, 53 NLT Then Jesus shouted, "Lazarus, come out!" Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen. But some... Imagine being an eye witness to events that day...a person they knew was back from the dead! But some...even when they saw a glimpse of God's power revealed still did not believe...still maintained their own agenda, still chose not to believe This is the freedom that God gives...to choose...to choose Him, or not. Isn't that the heart of love? Love because we have to is not love at all. He loves. His heart is open, wanting us to choose Him...needing us... #encounterswithJesus #choose #belong

John 11:25-26 NIV Jesus said to her I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;  and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this? What do we believe? As Jesus says to Martha...what do You believe? Not your parents, your friends, your church...but you? What we believe about Jesus is the most important thing. He claims to be: the resurrection life it's by faith in him we get this life Is Jesus deluded? A fraud? Or who he says he is? #choose #encounterswithJesus #ichooseLord

John 11v3 NIV So the sisters sent word to Jesus; Lord, the one you love is sick A friend sent me this note this week... Martha says "the one you LOVE is sick" Love here is Phelo, not Agape. Jesus loved Lazarus with a deep affection, and he can relate when we are hurting, when a relationship that matters to us is facing turmoil... Jesus. Fully human, who understands our love for each other as well as our pain, loss, grief...he walks with us in the good and the hard times #encounterswithJesus #thanksIgor #with #love

John 11:1, 4 NIV Now a man named Lazarus was sick...When he heard this, Jesus said This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it. God's focus was on Jesus. Jesus was all about the Father and making Him bigger...what's mine? So often it's all about me. #jesusatthecentre #encounterswithJesus

John 4:13-14 NIV Jesus answered Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,  but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. Drink it. Then it becomes a spring inside...echoes of saved and being saved, as this person encountered Jesus he says drink this living water (which is me) & I will become something that works from the inside (God's Spirit within) that will keep welling up...God in us...if we let Him... None of us can survive without water...real life comes from the living water... #encounterswithJesus #wordsofJesus #somethingtochewon #livingwater