Pointing Out Evil : John 7:6-9 : What Jesus Did! : HEARTLIGHT®

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Pointing Out Evil - John 7:6-9

Jesus said to his brothers, "The right time for me has not yet come. But any time is right for you {to go}. The world cannot hate you. But the world hates me. Why? Because I tell the people in the world that they do evil things. So you go to the festival. I will not go to the festival now. The right time for me has not yet come." After Jesus said this, he stayed in Galilee. (ERV) Full Text

Key Thought

So much is not said today because of the political correctness police. That's not said to give us an excuse for prejudicial or bigoted speech. Instead, refusing to call sin "Sin!" is my concern. Jesus didn't just leave happy and healed people in the wake of his ministry. Some of the folks he passed by will reappear later in the story crying, "Crucify him!" They didn't like it when he called their evil what it actually was. We must not either. Evil is still evil. Sin is still sin. And wrong is still wrong. Truth often makes us uncomfortable with our sin and hopefully will lead us to change. Unfortunately, many don't want to be brought to the light of the truth. Jesus was crucified for several key reasons, but we must realize that one of those reasons was simply this: many people, especially religious people, don't like being told they are sinners.

Today's Prayer

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Father, please give me greater wisdom so that I can demonstrate your love with compassion while at the same time I stand up for your truth and righteousness. While I know others may not understand my faith, strengthen me through your Holy Spirit so that I will stand faithfully no matter how great the opposition and no matter how close to home that opposition might be. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

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Today's Verses in Context

After this, Jesus traveled around the country of Galilee. Jesus did not want to travel in Judea, because the Jewish leaders there wanted to kill him. It was time for the Jewish Festival of Shelters. So Jesus' brothers said to him, "You should leave here and go to {the festival in} Judea. Then your followers there can see the miracles you do. If a person wants the people to know him, then that person must not hide the things he does. Show yourself to the world. Let them see these things (miracles) you do." (Even Jesus' brothers did not believe in him.) Jesus said to his brothers, "The right time for me has not yet come. But any time is right for you {to go}. The world cannot hate you. But the world hates me. Why? Because I tell the people in the world that they do evil things. So you go to the festival. I will not go to the festival now. The right time for me has not yet come." After Jesus said this, he stayed in Galilee.

— John 7:1-9 (ERV)

Comments on "Pointing Out Evil":

People are judged by this fact: The Light (goodness) has come into the world. But people did not want light. They wanted darkness (sin). Why? Because they were doing evil things. Every person that does evil hates the light. That person will not come to the light. Why? Because then the light will show all the bad things he has done. But the person that follows the true way comes to the light. Then the light will show that the things that person has done were done through God.
John 3:19-21 (ERV)

{Strengthen yourselves} so that you will live your lives here on earth doing what God wants, not doing the evil things that people want. In the past you wasted too much time doing the things that the non-believers like to do. You were doing sexual sins. You were doing the evil things you wanted. You were becoming drunk, having wild and wasteful parties, having drunken parties, and doing wrong by worshiping idols (false gods). Those non-believers think that it is strange that you don't do the many wild and wasteful things that they do. And so they say bad things about you. But those people will have to explain about the things they have done. They will have to explain to the One (Christ) who is ready to judge the people who are living and the people who have died.
1 Peter 4:2-5 (ERV)

The Father (God) has loved us so much! This shows how much he loved us: We are called children of God. And we really are God's children. But the people in the world (people who don't believe) don't understand that we are God's children, because they have not known him (God). Dear friends, now we are children of God. We have not yet been shown what we will be in the future. But we know that when Christ comes again, we will be like him. We will see him like he really is. Christ is pure. And every person who has this hope in Christ keeps himself pure like Christ.
1 John 3:1-3 (ERV)

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