Day 12 of 21 Days

Hello fasting friends and family, it is day 12 of the Fast and you are almost there, Praise the Lord!!! When you think about fasting you have to think about “dying.” Not necessarily a physical death but a carnal death that leads to a spiritual resurrection. As we continue this corporate time of fasting and praying be encourage that you have made a major decision to participate in a spiritual discipline that will change your life. As I read and reread our devotional reading from John chapter 12 it hit like a ton of bricks.

John 12:23-25 is a hard saying. And Jesus answered them, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever love his life loses it and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Jesus is basically telling His disciples that to live they need to die. That’s not a comfortable teaching. I know that’s not popular teaching these days with the gospel of prosperity being so popular. But the TRUE is that it is the uncomfortable teaching of Jesus that causes us to be in His will, His way and His word. Just check it out how we are to face the uncomfortable word of Jesus in order to be comfortable with Him:

• We see unseen things (2 Cor. 4:18)
• We conquer by yielding (Rom. 6:16-18)
• We find rest under a yoke (Mt. 11:28-30)
• We reign by serving (Mark 10:42-44)
• We are made great by becoming little (Luke 9:48)
• We are exalted by being humble (Mt. 23:12)
• We become wise by being fools for Christ’s sake (1 Cor. 1:20, 21)
• We are made free by becoming His bond servants (Rom. 6:10)
• We wax strong by being weak (2 Cor. 12:10)
• We triumph by defeat (2 Cor. 12:7-9)
• We find victory by glorying in our infirmities (2 Cor. 12:5)
• But perhaps most difficult of all for us:
• We live by dying (John 12:24,25; 2 Cor. 4:10,11)

These are all very difficult saying but each leading to something so amazing, marvelous and miraculous And yet, Jesus tells us our very usefulness - our fruitfulness for God is tied to our willingness to surrender our lives even to die for Him. Listen to the words one more time UNLESS A GRAIN OF WHEAT FALLS INTO THE EARTH AND DIES, IT REMAINS ALONE; BUT IF IT DIES, IT BEARS MUCH FRUIT. If I was preaching/teaching I would tell you that if we are going to be any good to the King or the Kingdom we must experience a falling down, dirt and death in order to be fruitful. In order for a seed to produce fruit it must go through a drop, dirt, drought, drench and death to bring about fruit.

Verse 32 says And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

One Commentator noted that there are 6 instances where Jesus mentions BEARING FRUIT as a Christian - and 5 of those are tied to the cross or dying.

In Short - it is in dying... not in doing... that we bear fruit for God. OR, to put it another way: Placed in the position of obeying God when it might very cost you WHAT WILL YOU CHOOSE?

You can be like those who chose living over dying or those who chose dying over living. Check out the contrast: there are those who chose disobediences over obedience when the price was too high for those who faced the decision:

1. 10 spies who went into Canaan (we looked like grasshoppers)

2. Rich Young Ruler (Jesus looked on him and loved him - sell all that you have)

3. Peter denying knowing Christ (3 times)

They all regretted their decisions.

Then there are those who chose obedience over disobedience; death over life and was blessed and honored by the Father.

1. Abraham sacrificing Isaac - "God will provide…"

2. Job - "though He slay me, I will serve Him"

3. Joshua - "Choose you this day whom you will serve..."

4. Shadrach, Mesach, Abednego - "Our God is able to rescue us...but even if..."

5. John the Baptist - "He must increase, and I must decrease"

Each of these people made hard decisions and succeeded where lesser men would have failed. Why was that? Because of a principle found in John 12:26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

If you chose living over dying you die, but if you chose dying over living you live.

Let me close day 12 with a story That which appears to be death to us is often that which gives life. In his book, "Written in Blood," Robert Coleman tells the story of a little boy whose sister needed a blood transfusion. The doctor explained that she had the same disease the boy had recovered from 2 years earlier. Her only chance for recovery was a transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the disease. Since the two children had the same rare blood type, the boy was the ideal donor.

"Would you give your blood to Mary?" the doctor asked. Johnny hesitated. His lower lip started to tremble. Then he smiled and said, "Sure, for my sister."

Soon the two children were wheeled into the hospital room, nary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and healthy. Neither spoke, but when their eyes met, Johnny grinned.

As the nurse inserted the needle into his arm, Johnny’s smile faded. He watched the blood flow through the tube.

With the ordeal almost over, his voice, slightly shaky, broke the silence, "Doctor, when do I die?"

John was willing to die for his sister. Jesus has died for you BUT are you willing to die for Him?

Here’s a short outline of John 12 to help deepen your reading.

• Jesus dined in a home in Bethany (v.1-2)
• The supreme believer (v.3)
• The hypocritical, unbelieving disciple (v.4-8)
• The half-sincere seekers (v.9)
• The fearful, self-seeking religionists (v.10-11)
• Jesus Proclaimed as King: The Triumphal Entry, 12:12-19
• Jesus Approached as King: The Misunderstood Messiah, 12:20-36
• Jesus Rejected and Accepted as King, 12:37-50