WATCH TODAY’S EPISODE ON YOUTUBE.
CONSECRATE
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
HEAR
John 21:24–25 ESV
This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.
Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
CONSIDER
“It is shallow enough for a child not to drown, yet deep enough for an elephant to swim in it.” This statement by Augustine is where we began in our contemplation of the words that comprise the fourth gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).
Today we come to the end, and we are still talking about words.
Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
If we add it all up, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we come to 89 chapters, comprising 3,779 verses, made up by 83,680 words. And then there are my words about the words of the Gospels, which are not even worthy of being counted. And as good as all of these words of the Gospels are, they still remain words, which in the end are not enough.
The greatest peril of the whole project is that we somehow allow the Word to remain at the level of words. If you ask me to land on one verse in the whole gospel—indeed, the whole Bible—that held the greatest importance, I think I could do it. I’ll take it a step further and narrow it down to one sentence. You are probably thinking I’m going to land on John 3:16. That would be a contender for sure, but I’ve got one that even encompasses that one. Here’s my choice: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14a).
And I think you see where this is heading. As Jesus was and is, so we are and shall become—words becoming flesh. That’s why we are doing this every single day, not to learn more words, but so that the Word might become flesh in us—in me and in you. All that said, which is still just more words, the most challenging word from today’s text for me is this one:
Now there are also many other things that Jesus did.
We get the feeling John (as well as the other Gospel writers) has only given us a sample.
Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
After all these chapters and verses and words, it’s time for you and me to let Jesus write the story of our lives by the grace and glory of his life. Let’s call it The Book of JesUS—The Great Gospelling Adventure of Life.
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14a)
PRAY
Abba Father, we thank you for your Son, Jesus, who is forever and always the Word made flesh. Thank you, that he makes his dwelling not only among us, but within us. Thank you for these Gospel writers and their faithfulness to receive these revealed words and to write them down. Thank you especially for Jesus. Come, Holy Spirit, and cause the Word to become flesh in my life and in our lives together. Make of our lives a great Gospelling adventure. We pray in Jesus’s name, amen.
JOURNAL
So, how is the Word becoming flesh in your life? Where are the developing edges of his work in and through your hours, days, and weeks in this season? How has this journey through the Gospels helped you to know Jesus better? How has it helped you to know yourself better? What are your top takeaways from these past eighty-nine days together in the Gospels?
SING
Today, we will be led in our closing out of the Gospels series by Chris Tomlin in one of his new songs “Doesn’t He Deserve It All?” You will need to listen to the audio or watch on YouTube to access it.
For the Awakening,
J. D. Walt
P.S. AS A GIFT TO ME . . .
I’ve gotten a fair amount of responses along the way from people through the Gospels series. I’ve appreciated them all. As we come to a close, it would really help me, our team, and the Wake-Up Call itself if you would take a few minutes to give us some feedback. This survey will be short and to the point, and I will treasure your responses.
John David (J. D.) Walt Jr. is the Sower-in-Chief for Seedbed and the pastor of the Gillett Methodist Church in Gillett, Arkansas.
5 Responses
Wow! The “Good News of Jesus Christ” shared in 89 days! Awesome series J.D! Thank you for your ministry and sowing for a Great Awakening!
Wade Moore
St. Marys, GA
Jesus wants a dynamic interactive relationship with people. He’s not looking for religious activities. The Word of God must go beyond mere words and ever burn in the heart, creating ongoing intimacy with, passion for, and obedience to the risen Christ! Let Jesus lead you beyond religious activities into relational interaction with God.
Religious activities teach human wisdom. Relational interaction with God teaches directly from the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:13)
Religious activities train people to look outwardly respectable. Relational interaction with God cleans and transforms people from the inside out. (Matthew 23:26)
Religious activities tend to create modern-day Pharisees. Relational interaction with God makes radical disciples. (Matthew 23:23-24)
Religious activities are all about works. Relational interaction with God is about His mercy, grace, and forgiveness. (Ephesians 2:8-10)
Religious activities give God lip service but produce hardness of heart. Relational interaction with God will make your heart tender and bring it close to God. (Mark 7:6)
Religious activities attract people who think they are righteous. Relational interaction with God calls “sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:32)
Religious activities put tradition above God’s commandments. (Matthew 15:3) Relational interaction with God seeks first the kingdom of God. (Matthew 6:33)
Religious activities tend to point to a Jesus who is in the distant past or the distant future. Relational interaction with God embraces the Jesus of the Bible who is living, active, present, and speaking right here and right now. (2 Corinthians 11:4)
Religious activities often create spiritual, ministry, church, or denominational pride. Relational interaction with God produces humility. (Matthew 18:4)
Religious activities seldom warn people about false prophets. Relational interaction with God takes seriously Christ’s warning against false prophets. (Matthew 24:11)
Religious activities train Christians to dutifully accept whatever a preacher says. Relational interaction with God teaches Christians to personally search the Bible and verify or reject each thing that a preacher says. (Acts 17:11)
Religious activities follow human desires and opinions and create divisions among Christians. Relational interaction with God always follows the Holy Spirit. (Jude 1:17-19)
Religious activities are often misled by “deceitful spirits and things taught by demons.” Relational interaction with God refuses to abandon reliance on the risen Jesus. (1 Timothy 1:4)
Religious activity tries to be justified by obeying the law. Relational interaction with God trusts in Christ’s mercy and grace. (Galatians 5:4)
Religious activities depend on tradition. (Mark 7:13) Relational interaction with God is built on the living Word of God. (Hebrews 4:12)
Religious activities are based on human effort. Relational interaction with God depends on the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 3:1-3)
Religious activities are programmed. Relational interaction with God flows from the heart. (John 7:38-39)
Religious activities are leader led. Relational interaction with God is Spirit-led. (Romans 8:14)
Religious activities are dutiful. Relational interaction with God is joyful. (Nehemiah 8:10)
Religious activities are systematized. Relational interaction with God is spontaneous. (John 8:32)
Religious activities? Or relational interaction with God? Choose wisely!
I am new to this seed bed. I loved being able to read then listen to seed bed. Matthew,Mark Luke and John. You wanted to now what going on with my life. We were blessed with the purchase a New Church to us after leaving the United Methodist church. We were having are Church at a local Scout house for about 1 year. But 1 week before it had been 1 year as a Church family as a global Methodist church, we were able to purchase a Church and have our first service in our new Church building in Otsego Michigan as Pathfinder North. We are so blessed. Thank you for the seed bed I will continue to visit seeded everyday. God has really blessed us this year with a new Church. My days have been so much more fulfilling listening to the seeded before I start my day.
I love the idea of a dedicated journal book to follow along with the Word and the Wake-Up up call. Along with a Band Zoom call weekly, our small group encompasses our favorite Seedbed messages of the week and discuss our blessings. To even make my day begin with renewed thoughts, I wait for my husband to join me for our daily Bible chapter and Wake-up Call. We are growing together! ❤️
First with the Thank you’s, I want to thank God for his son Jesus, thank you Jesus for going to the cross for my sins, thank you JD for doing this 89 day series, thank you Mr David for helping out on the singing with JD, this must be so awesome to be able to do this father and son singing together. And thank you Chris Tomlin for sharing your awesome music.
JD I have really enjoyed doing this 89 day series with the sower nation. It has been a blast. I have never read the Bible like this before. I have tried to start at Genesis several times before with the intention of reading through the Old Testament but always failed at it. My reading seemed to be a jump around scripture all over the Bible. Your offer to read this series in 89 days challenged me to do this and I read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John with the you and the seedbed nation. I really enjoyed doing this and the singing you, your Dad and Chris did. This has brought me closer to my best friend Jesus.
JD you have taught me much more than I thought I knew about Jesus and the Bible and I really would like to Thank you for that.
I hope to be able to do more series on seedbed. I am excited and plan to do all of the advent series next.