Staying in Sync With God’s Heart
John 12, Part 6:
Background to the lesson: The connection of the theme of this entire blog should become obvious.
A
few years ago I was sitting at my desk when, out of the blue, my heart rate
went way up, like you would expect it to when running. I wasn’t running,
worrying or anything unusual; no stress, just doing desk work. I used the blood
pressure monitor we had at work and saw my blood pressure was high, and heart rate was up to
150. This occurred again at home and I ended up in the ER. The EKG showed
drastic irregularities. Diagnosis was atrial fibrillation.
During
atrial fibrillation, the heart's two upper chambers (the atria) beat
chaotically and irregularly — out of coordination with the two lower chambers
(the ventricles) of the heart. Atrial fibrillation symptoms often include heart
palpitations, shortness of breath and weakness. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/atrial-fibrillation/symptoms-causes/syc-20350624
Click
the NEXT button in this link for a great animation of AFib https://watchlearnlive.heart.org/index.php?moduleSelect=atrfib
Basically, the heart is totally out of
sync with what is medically called sinus rhythm. It’s very freaky to
experience. After several failed attempts with different medications I ended up
with a pace maker and have been fine ever since. Praise God!!
I’ve frequently mentioned that when
you hear God’s heartbeat you will hear John 3:16. I would add that you will
also hear 1 Corinthians 13 (the love chapter). Let’s see how this is playing
out in the Gospel narrative.
We left off the previous blog with
thoughts about Jesus statement concerning going to the cross,
His love for us was like a compelling
force in His heart; the reality of John 3:16 was coming. He chose To Do What is
Right, No Matter the Cost. His heart was perfectly in tune with the Father’s
plan. May our hearts always be so tuned.
The next scene in John 12 has many
profound truths, things that help us to understand What Makes Jesus Tick,
truth that equips us to be like Him, to stay in sync with His heartbeat.
John 12:29
Therefore the people who stood by
and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to
Him.”
The Lord’s response to this miraculous
sign fills us with great hope:
John 12:30 Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not
come because of Me, but for your sake.
31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the
ruler of this world will be cast out.
Likewise, a previous voice rocked the
world with the revelation of Who Jesus is:
Matthew 3:17
and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I
am well-pleased and delighted!” [AMP]
These signs were for our sakes,
confirming who Jesus is to every person. Jesus was about to bring about total
victory over the evil one. He was soon to go to the cross and totally conquer
death, hell and the grave. With those defeated we have absolutely nothing to
fear. Jesus, the lover of our soul, is full of concern, full of compassion, full
of love, etc., but never fear.
Sometimes we find ourselves afraid and in Spiritual AFib. Those times remind us that we are not so perfect in reception of God’s love AND/OR we let sin steal the peace of God from our lives. These are good things if we allow the loving conviction of the Spirit to bring us to repentance. Remember, the Love Song of the Father’s heart is John 3:16. These next verses exemplify how that plays as Messiah speaks of His approaching crucifixion. The last phrase in verse 32 elicits a Hallelujah shout.
John 12:31
Now is the judgment of this world;
now the ruler of this world will be cast
out.
32 And
I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw
all peoples to Myself.”
33 This He said, signifying by what death He
would die.
This process of being drawn to Jesus
was about to kick into high gear. Think about the way this process worked in
your life to bring you to salvation. The way the process works is unique to
every individual and usually involves the Lord using His people to accomplish
the result of John 3:16. The Lord also draws us closer to Himself after the
turning point of our salvation experience. Praying for the Lord to use us on
both sides of this equation should be an integral part of our prayer life. Based
on these two key verses we pray continually for those we know and love,
especially unsaved family members, “Father draw them, draw them, draw them to
yourself.” In verse 32 above, we see this drawing as an effect of Jesus’ crucifixion.
John 6:44
No man can come to me, except the Father
which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Jeremiah 31:3
The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee
with an everlasting love: therefore with
loving kindness have I drawn thee.
Song of Solomon is a vivid and
wonderful story of the love affair between God and His people. Having
experienced that everlasting love, and God’s loving kindness that Jeremiah
mentions, we are provoked to pray for a closer relationship with the Father.
Oh, may we always be ready to run as described in this next verse.
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Song of Solomon 1:4 Draw
me, we will run after thee: the King hath brought me into His chambers: we
will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the
upright love thee.
If you are a steady reader of this
blog you’ve seen frequent instances where Jesus responds to carnal thinking
with something that seems disconnected to what they ask Him. The carnal mind
shorts out. Jesus’ response blew their mind, showing His intense understanding
of His destiny to fulfill His prophesied destiny. Jesus was in sync with His
Father’s heart. The carnally minded were not as is evident in verse 34.
John 12: 34 The people answered Him, “We have heard from
the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man
must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of
Man?”
John 12:35
Then Jesus said to them, “A
little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest
darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is
going.
36 While you have the light, believe in the
light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and
departed, and was hidden from them.
Isaiah described this explicitly,
John 12:37 But although He had done so many signs before
them, they did not believe in Him,
38 that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be
fulfilled, which he spoke:
“Lord, who has believed our report? And to
whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 Therefore they could not believe, because
Isaiah said again:
40 “He
has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,
Lest they should see with their eyes,
Lest they should understand with their hearts
and turn,
So that I should heal them.”
PRAYER:
Lord helps us to hunger and thirst after
righteousness, to run to You when we sense You drawing us closer. May we always
hear the heavenly metronome and avoid any Spiritual AFib.
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