8/5/23 Lit Word "Jesus The Divider"

Date: 8/5/23
Today's Reading:
Quick Read: John 7:25-52
A Little More: 2 Kings 23, John 7
A Lot More: 2 Kg 23, 2 Chronicles 35, John 7

Neal’s Lit Word

Title: “Jesus The Divider”

Scripture: John 7:43
So there arose a division in the multitude because of Him.

Observation: What is God saying to me?
We don’t typically think of Jesus as One who causes division but that’s not true. Some things in our lives need to be divided. Jesus is in the crowd sorting business but He doesn’t do it based on His own good pleasure. God does not take pleasure in division at all. However, He does give people a choice to follow Him or not to follow Him. He doesn’t force people to follow Him, but when people choose not to follow Him, He allows them to have the result of their choice.

Application: What will I do about it?
Division among the masses or “multitudes” is not a bad thing, it’s a good thing. Many will hear, see and decide to follow and experience what Jesus is about, but many will not. The natural result of this decision on earth is division.

The good news is our ultimate destination, heaven, will have no division or controversy in it but while here on earth, there is division and controversy and it’s caused by Jesus. Don’t get me wrong here. It’s caused by people but Jesus let’s people choose the way they want to go.

Today, I will not be so concerned about the division that is happening among the people, rather, I will concern myself with following Jesus and helping as many people hear, see and decide to follow Jesus as I possibly can.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, for years I have struggled with “division among the people.” Help me to embrace this reality today with new understanding. It’s not my job to eliminate division among the people, it’s my job to partner with your Holy Spirit to show as many people as I possibly can who you are and what you are about so they can choose to follow you. In Jesus Name. Amen!

I Am Grateful For… a new outlook on division and where it comes from.

Tracker Questions
Describe any ways you can see Jesus causing division in the world?

What are you going to do to show people who Jesus is so they can choose which side of the division they want to live on?