John 13

This chapter was difficult to read because I feel like satan is trying to tempt me into believing lies. It was definitely a God thing that I ended up reading this chapter tonight because sometimes I really feel like the words in the bible are far-fetched and then other times I feel like satan is trying to just flat out turn me away from God because I may disagree with the way I read something. Once I go back and read what I wrote, then I see the actual meaning behind what Jesus said. So this has been a difficult journey for me.

This chapter is amazing because it's first about Jesus providing an example for his followers to be servants. Serving is something that is very near to my heart. I feel that serving within our own churches is important. Very imortant! We shouldn't put that on the back burner because Jesus didn't do that either. He knew his time with his followers was short so he washed their feet to show them that in order to be a leader they have to become humble first. Jesus humbled himself by taking on a servants job (washing someone's feet) and this provided an excellent example for the disciples to follow. Jesus knew that they would be facing difficult times soon and he wanted to be sure that they were ready for them. He does the same thing with us. If we will allow him to, he will prepare us to go into battle daily with the enemy. The spiritual warfare that is going on now is just as great as it was at that point in time. Our society has made it easier on satan unfortunately. The advances in technology have provided him with ways that he can ruin marriages and families with just the click of a button. This is why prayer and devotions are so important. The Angels of God can fight the spiritual warfare for us but we also have to be fully equipped with every weapon available to us so that we don't fall into temptation.


The last part of this chapter, Jesus willingly allows Judas to go and give the officials information about Jesus's whereabouts. Jesus knew what was going to happen and although he wasn't okay with it and he knew it would bring heartache and pain, he allowed it to happen Anyways. You see, he knew that God's final plan would prevail. He knew that he would rise from the dead and he knew that he would see his followers again. Satan knew nothing of this. He thought he had the upper hand. We need to be more like Jesus in these type of situations. Of course most of them aren't life or death situations like the one Jesus was in, but they are situations that we need to allow Jesus to control versus taking it on ourselves to fix the problems. We need to patiently wait for the right answers.

I think the most humbling part of this whole chapter was the fact that Jesus knew Peter would deny him and he knew Judas would betray him. He wasn't angry and he wasn't trying to stop them. He loved them unconditionally even though he knew they were going to mess up. Isn't it amazing that God loves us anyways even though he knows that we are going to win. Jesus was offering yet another example to his followers about loving one another unconditionally. I'm not sure about you guys, but I don't love too many people with unconditional love. We should love someone enough that we would humble ourselves and wash their feet if we felt like God asked us to. Yes, it may be a strange request (especially for someone like me who hates feet) but it is also a wonderful way for someone to show their love and humbleness to another person. We all need to work on loving others unconditionally. Jesus even says at the end of this chapter, "love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know you are my disciples, if you love one another." I am so awful about unconditionally loving someone, but God specifically says that we are to love one another and that's how people will be able to tell if we are Christians. Not by us walking around beating people with a bible and not by carrying a bible everywhere, but by loving each other. This is what was most important to Jesus. I hope we can all find room to love others unconditionally in the future. I know I need to work on it!
I hope and pray this prayer for myself as well as any of you reading this. Have a great night