Pages: 197-210, John 5, 8 and Ezekiel 11, 36
...[B]ut I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?” John 5:42-47
This morning, I continued with John Piper's Reading the Bible Supernaturally: Seeing and Savoring the Glory of God in Scripture, Part 2 The Super Natural Act of Reading the Bible, chapter twelve - Why the Pharisees Couldn't Read. Here, Piper seeks to help us understand more deeply what stops us from reading the Bible supernaturally. He uses the Pharisees and the Sadducees as examples of those who had read the law but did not recognized or believe in Jesus and so misinterpreted both the law and who Jesus really is; Piper states that the problem was "moral and spiritual....What prevented the reading that Jesus expected was not skills they lacked, but sins they loved. The problem was not mental deficiencies, but misplaced desires." Piper then goes on to list those misplaced desires as desire for "human praise, money, etc." He points to John 5:42-47 where the Jewish leaders are challenging Jesus and seeking to persecute Him. Piper then points to John 8:42-44 where Jesus then "links this love of self-exaltation to Satan. "[Jesus] says that [the Jewish leaders] cannot welcome the words of Jesus because their desires are in sync with the Devil[.]"
Piper wraps up the chapter by pointing to Ezekiel 11:19 and 36:26 for how God gives us a "heart of flesh" to help us grow in our sensitivity to "God's worth and beauty[.]"
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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are truly and amazing God and my Lord and Savior! Thank You for rescuing me, adopting me into Your family, and for helping me see Your worth and beauty. I am not deserving for all that You have done and do for me. My sin, worry, etc. continues. Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You. Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me. Help me grow in my faith. Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength. Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo. Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior. Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin. Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others. Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.