Dan Lee
John 17:9-13, For the Joy of God's Elect

Jesus’ first petition for His disciples is found in these verses. Jesus prays that the Father would keep them in His name. Jesus prays for a special people, His disciples and He does so because He was about to physically leave His disciples. What He would no longer be able to do in His physical absence, He asks the Father to accomplish. May the Lord grant to us a greater work of His Spirit to draw us to walk in Jesus’ ways and thus live with His joy evermore in our hearts.

Dan Lee
John 17:6-8, Two Realities of Salvation

Jesus describes the salvation of His disciples from two perspectives, one from heaven and the other from earth. In heaven, salvation was the product of the intratrinitarian transaction between the Father and the Son. On earth salvation was the product of divine revelation through the word of God and the hearty response of faith on the part of believers. The heavenly realities evoke worship, humility, and thanksgiving. The earthly realities compel us to take seriously every word of our Lord Jesus Christ and act upon them by faith.

Dan Lee
John 17:3-5, Salvation for the Glory of God ...

In His prayer, Jesus defines eternal life for our benefit. Contrary to popular belief, eternal life according to the Son of God is a reconciled relationship with God that begins in the present and stretches out to eternity. Jesus also reveals to us that He is the God of eternal glory which is demonstrated through the cross which He was about to bear. In the cross of Christ, the glory of God’s grace shines brilliantly so that all the redeemed and all the angelic host would glorify God forever and ever.

Dan Lee
John 17:1-2, Salvation for the Glory of God

Jesus’ prayer in John 17 begins with a focus on the glory of God. Jesus prays that His impending death will ultimately glorify the Father and that this would come about through the granting (gifting) of eternal life to His elect. What Jesus’ crucifixion puts on display is the glory of God’s grace in salvation.

Dan Lee
Deuteronomy 27-34, Two Ways to Live

As Moses closes his final message to the children of Israel, he focuses on the consequences of obedience and disobedience. He does so by setting down before them two pathways: the pathway to life, good, and the blessing, and the other pathway to death, evil, and the curse. Along with these options for their future, he reveals to them their future in apostasy, judgment, and even a restoration afterwards. The Pentateuch closes with an allusion to the prophet like Moses to come, the Lord Jesus, who speaks from the LORD and all the people ought to hear. The call to choose life echoes throughout the ages, calling all to be reconciled and restored to God and to enter into His blessing through the Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew 28:1-20, What the Risen Lord wants for His world [Part 1]

The Lord has risen from the dead in glory and power. What comes next? From the Lord’s own mouth, we hear the Lord’s post-resurrection desire for the world: discipleship of all of His world. In this first installment we examine the first 15 verses of this final chapter of Matthew and see the three part confirmation of Jesus’ bodily resurrection from the dead: via the angelic announcement, the Lord’s appearance, and the Jewish leaders’ cover-up which ends up only confirming the empty tomb.

John 7:14-18, Who's Your Teacher?

Jesus is our supreme teacher. In this section in John 7, we see Jesus as the fearless teacher who calls people to obedience to God, a teacher who always sought to glorify the Father and whose motives are unmixed, who can be trusted, who alone can be described as true and in whom there is no unrighteousness. How precious is our Lord who is also our supreme Teacher. May we live faithfully as His disciples, who give Him our supreme attention and obedience.

1 Peter 4:7-11, Eschatological Ministry [Part 3]

In this final installment on walking with the Lord, we examine Peter’s last imperative regarding ministry. Those who faithfully anticipate the coming of the Lord live their lives as stewards of the manifold grace of God. Our lives are not our own. All that God has graciously given us is meant to be used to bring Him glory. May our great and gracious God be glorified through all that He’s given us as we leverage them for His service.

1 Peter 4:7-11, Eschatological Ministry [Part 2]

Peter exhorts us to eschatological living by exercising fervent (“stretching”) love toward one another. He gives us one pivotal example of hospitality: share our home with others. He then directs our attention to what God has graciously entrusted us so that we would leverage it to serve one another. We are stewards of God’s gracious gift, not owners of it.