Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - When You Feel Disconnected From God | New Testament | John 13

Episode Date: December 19, 2023

What is the best way to reconnect with God? Well, how did God first connect with you? John 13 reveals how God uses Jesus to connect his people to his love. In today's episode, Tanya shares an important lesson in loving like Jesus. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Resources: Loving the Way Jesus Loves by Phillip Ryken Passages: John 13

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmeth. If you are feeling disconnected from God right now, I urge you to listen it. John Chapter 3 is one of the most loving chapters we have covered this year in the New Testament. Maybe you can read the whole chapter later, but I'm going to do my best to tell you the story as it unfold at the Last Supper. I hope that you can see with your own heavenly imagination, the extravagant love of Jesus, and your heart will be renewed to step back into relationship,

to talk to him about your life and ask him for help and forgiveness, and to trust him more. In John 13, 1, Jesus tells us how he loves us. In verses 4 and 5, he shows us how he loves us. And in verse 15, he tells us how to love others. But first, let's back up and set the scene. Think about for a moment the tools you use to do, your job. If you're a student, you probably use a laptop and Google Classroom or something similar.

If you're a coach, you probably use game film and your voice. If you're a mom, you might have a stroller or a backpack with wipes and Cheerios. Jesus' tools were those of a carpenter. He probably used a chisel and a saw and a hammer, wood, and nails. His disciples that were fishermen used boats and nets. The tax collectors who chose to follow him probably had ledgers. But on this particular night, Jesus picked up a different kind of tool. When the disciples were gathered around him, he paused from eating, tied a towel around his waist, and picked up a wash bin. He used the tools of a servant. Listen to what John wrote.

Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Ascariat Simon's son to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. See, Jesus knew his hour had come. We've come to understand through our study of the New Testament that that means more than we might think. Yes, it means it was time for him to go to the cross and die to atone for sin,

but it also meant it was time for him to leave the world he entered as God in the flesh and returned to the throne. He is a savior and a king. We might have an easier time picturing a humble Savior Jesus in this scene. But we need to also picture King Jesus, picking up a wash basin and a towel, and King Jesus, loving his own until the end. You are loved by the most perfect, the most powerful king of all creation who got on his knees to wash dusty feet before going to the cross. Now, when Jesus went around the table and washed the disciples' feet, he washed the feet of the prideful, like Simon Peter, who didn't think he needed to be. what Jesus had to offer, and he washed the feet of Judas Ascariot, who the scripture says already had it in his heart from the devil to betray Jesus. He washed to let them experience

his love for them in that moment, and also to experience something about his everlasting love that they might not understand until later. One by one, he went around the table, until John says Jesus was troubled in spirit and said, One of you will betray me, and he passed the bread to and whined to Judas Ascariot, who rose from the table and left. And then Jesus gave the remaining disciples a new commandment. He said, just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. Now notice, he didn't give them the command until after they had had this personal encounter with his love. He didn't tell them what to do until he filled them up physically and spiritually, and show them what love actually looks and feels like.

I think we need to pause for just a moment and think about how full we are of Jesus' loving presence before we go out and try to love on people. If your cup feels empty, good chance it is. Jesus shows you where to go. Now, Jesus also shows us what authentic love is. We know what authentic love is not, and the scripture tells us that also.

In 1 Corinthians 13, 4 and 5, Paul says, Love does not envy or boast, and it is not rude. But often, that verse describes us more than Jesus' command to love one another as he has loved us, doesn't it? It describes the way we feel when other people have success or when they get on our nerves. It describes the opposite of love. Envy isn't just a neutral feeling we have about someone when they do well. Phil Reichen, author of a book I love that you can find in the show notes, says envy wants to bring other people to their knees. And what about boasting? Well, boasting wants other people to make us their king.

It's an attempt to elevate ourselves through an image we create. And rudeness? Well, that is treating people like they don't matter enough for our time or our patience or our presence. Jesus was not rude, but he was patient with Simon Peter when he didn't understand why Jesus was washing his feet. He is just as loving to us when we lack understanding and repeat the same mistakes. The only hope we have to authentic love is Jesus himself. We need a deeper awareness of how much he actually loves us.

We need to understand that when the true king was reclining at the table with people who had nothing to offer him in return, he took the lowest place. He took the lowest place for you and me. So how do you follow his example to love? What are the tools, the wash basin and towel, if you will, that you can use to love others? I don't know about you, but I'm still learning how to use the tools of my ears more than my mouth. I need to listen more, way more than I talk.

I'm still learning how to use the tool of my time. I want to be with people when I'm with them, not trying to herd them toward the next thing, or cleaning up after them. Humble service is showing up and being there for people, instead of showing up and being there for ourselves. How can you let go of something that seems important for you to say or important for you to get done so you can show up for someone else? Jesus says, by this, all people will know that you are my disciples,

if you have love for one another. Maybe there's someone in your family or someone you go to class with who you want to know Jesus more. One of the things you can do, along with praying for them, is love them and love others around you. And if you struggle to love well, return to the true source of love. Return to Jesus. Ask him to show you his love like he did in this chapter. And ask him to fill you with his love so you can be a vessel of love that points back to the true Savior king. Thank you.