Week 33 Daily Dose of Love
#225 (8/13)
Time Has Not
Yet Come
John 7:1-9
After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking
for an opportunity to kill him. Now the Jewish festival of Booths was near. So his brothers
said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing; for no one who
wants to be widely known acts in secret. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” (For
not even his brothers believed in him.) Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time
is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its works
are evil. Go to the festival yourselves. I am not going to this festival, for my time has not yet fully
come.” After saying this, he remained in Galilee.
Jesus’ brothers were “rushing ahead of grace”
They shared what they thought was a good idea, but love is less about good
ideas than opening our heart to the present moment. The brothers would have known this if they fully believed
in Jesus. Jesus is not interested in publicity. He seeks authentic, heartfelt contact just as
his father does with us. God’s love is within us at all times, but like the brothers of Jesus, sometimes
“something grabs us out of the present moment and projects us into the future where we try to make things fit our images
of love. It does not matter whether our images come in willing prayer or from willful strategy; when we
take on the job of making them work, we have left God’s grace behind.” The force, direction, and purpose of all loving action originates in God. We
are tools in his hands when we open our lives to him.
Reflection/Discussion:
When are we most likely to “rush ahead of grace”?
Principles of Love:
Vision; Opening; Humility
Pray Through the Day:
Open our eyes
To deepen our love
#226
(8/14)
Journey in Secret
John 7:10-13
But
after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but as it were in secret. The
Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, “Where is he?” And there was considerable
complaining about him among the crowds. While some were saying, “He is a good man,” others were saying, “No,
he is deceiving the crowd.” Yet no one would speak openly about him for fear of the Jews.
True love does not seek attention or affirmation. It is a spontaneous flow from God
through our hearts to others. There is no need for fanfare, spectacle, or dramatic effect.
True love is always sensitive to timing. Sometimes the most loving option we have is to remain in
the background and do nothing at all.
Reflection/Discussion:
When is nothing the most loving thing we can do?
Principles of Love:
Learning; Humility
Pray Through the Day:
Open our hearts and minds
To your love and wisdom
#227 (8/15)
Teaching from
Authority
John 7:14-18
About the middle of the festival Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. The
Jews were astonished at it, saying, “How does this man have such learning, when he has never been taught?”
Then Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine but his who sent me. Anyone who resolves
to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. Those
who speak on their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing
false in him.”
Jesus is the perfect vessel for bringing God’s love to us. He is open, clear, open and
never allows fear, ego, impatience or self-importance to be impediments to the truth of his father’s message. Anyone who
truly “resolves to do the will of God” is opening his or her heart to the love of our creator. They
will see the difference between truth that comes from love and the falsity of a self-serving agenda. There can be nothing
false or self-serving about true love. It is always open, clear, humble, and accepting. Reflection/Discussion:
How does love help us to be more open and clear?
Principles of Love:
Learning; Opening; Nature
Pray Through the Day:
Open our hearts and minds
To your love and wisdom
#228 (8/16)
Judge with
Right Judgment
John 7:19-24
“Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you looking
for an opportunity to kill me?” The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is trying to kill
you?” Jesus answered them, “I performed one work, and all of you are astonished.
Moses gave you circumcision (it is, of course, not from Moses, but from the patriarchs), and you circumcise a man on
the sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the sabbath in order that the law of Moses may not be broken,
are you angry with me because I healed a man’s whole body on the sabbath? Do not judge by appearances,
but judge with right judgment.”
Appearances can be manipulated, contrived, and falsified. Right judgment
looks past appearance to what is in the heart. We can make a quick assessment based on appearance, but
understanding from the heart takes time and effort. Only a heart that is opening can begin to discern between what looks to be true and
what actually comes from God. Whenever we start to close our hearts, thinking narrows. The human mind
operates very effectively in the world of appearances. It can create boundaries within which it analyzes,
examines, judges, and concludes; all the while building an illusion of complete understanding. When the
heart is not consulted, the mind has free rein to go anywhere. Thought that is disconnected from love becomes
fragmented from life and easily drifts in a self-serving direction. Right judgment gets to the
heart of the matter. The heart is our common ground. It recognizes what we share and
what’s important in the long run. Every human heart contains the seeds of God’s love.
When we judge from the heart, we consult God and each other. We consider the effects of judgment
on all who may be touched by it. The process of discernment may not be quick or efficient. It may not bring
us acclaim or affirmation, and it may even cause pain or conflict. But we can only judge with right judgment
when we begin with a loving heart. Reflection/Discussion:
How can we reduce our tendency to judge by appearances?
Principles of Love:
Decision; Opening; Vision
Pray Through the Day:
Help us always
To choose love
#229
(8/17)
Confusion Regarding Jesus’ Identity
John 7:25-36
Now
some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill? And
here he is, speaking openly, but they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah?
Yet we know where this man is from; but when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”
Then Jesus cried out as he was teaching in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I am from. I have not
come on my own. But the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him. I know him, because I am from
him, and he sent me.” Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him, because his hour
had not yet come. Yet many in the crowd believed in him and were saying, “When the Messiah comes,
will he do more signs than this man has done?”
The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering
such things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent temple police to arrest him. Jesus then
said, “I will be with you a little while longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will
search for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.” The Jews said to one another,
“Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks
and teach the Greeks? What does he mean by saying, ‘You will search for me and you will not find
me’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”
We need to be opening our minds and hearts in order to understand Jesus’ message.
Analyzing the details and literal meaning of his words leads either to an illusion of certainty or to an unending series
of unanswerable questions. We cannot analyze our way into the
kingdom of God. Paying more attention to mental details than to what is in our heart limits perspective
and diminishes understanding. Jesus speaks to our hearts. If our minds are overpowering
our hearts, we will miss his message.
Reflection/Discussion:
Why does love require us to be uncertain?
Principles of Love:
Opening; Learning
Pray Through the Day:
Open our hearts
To your love
#230 (8/18)
Rivers of Living Water
John 7:37-39
On the last day of the festival, the great day, while
Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.
As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’? ”
Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because
Jesus was not yet glorified.
The prophet Jeremiah tells us to “search the heart.” He said “Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and
it does not cease to bear fruit.” The living water is the unending stream of God’s love flowing into and through our hearts.
When our roots reach toward that stream, we are nourished by the source of all life, the source of all love.
Reflection/Discussion:
What might hinder the flow of living water
through our hearts?
Principles of Love:
Opening; Nature
Pray Through the Day:
Open our hearts
To your love
#231 (8/19)
Division Among the People
John 7:40-52
When
they heard these words, some in the crowd said, “This is really the prophet.” Others said, “This is the
Messiah.” But some asked, “Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? Has not the scripture said
that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?” So there was a division
in the crowd because of him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you
not arrest him?” The police answered, “Never has anyone spoken like this!” Then the Pharisees replied, “Surely
you have not been deceived too, have you? Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him?
But this crowd, which does not know the law—they are accursed.” Nicodemus, who had gone
to Jesus before, and who was one of them, asked, “Our law does not judge people without first giving
them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?” They replied, “Surely
you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.”
Division becomes
possible when mind overrides heart. People who are colorblind can debate forever whether a flower appears
more black or white, all the while failing to recognize its gentle beauty or sweet fragrance. The chief priests and Pharisees knew every detail of the law and scripture and presented logical
evidence that those who believed in Jesus had been deceived. But narrow focus on details can diminish and
ultimately derail our ability to appreciate the depth of God’s love for us. When our mind is made
up, our heart closes. But when we start from our hearts, we can explore new depths of understanding and
appreciation for God and each other.
Reflection/Discussion:
How can too much attention to detail interfere with love?
Principles of Love:
Opening; Humility
Pray Through the Day:
Open our hearts
To your love
