John 2:12-16

1) Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)

2) Scripture Reading: John 2:12-16
After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.  When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money.  So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.  To those who sold doves he said,“Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”

3) Devotional
One of the struggles in the Christian life is that we keep veering away from a life of total worship to Jesus, and end up worshipping false, poser gods.  The Bible calls them idols.  These idols can be the worship of our jobs (and not taking a Sabbath), worshiping our anger (and becoming violent), worshiping sex (and committing adultery), worshiping things (and stealing them), or worshiping success (and coveting what other people have).  Periodically, Jesus has to drive these false god's out of our lives.  Through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, our circumstances, and struggles Jesus will identify your idols, drive them out, and replace them with more of His Spirit.  His peace.  His joy.  and His Victory.  Until our worship of Jesus can be pure, whole, and complete.

4) Questions to Consider:
What is it that I give my time, energy, body, money, focus, devotion, and passion to the most?  Is this object of my worship Jesus, or someone or something else?  How is Jesus driving out all other devotions, until He is left?

5) Prayer:
Father, help us to be sensitive to what you are doing in my life today.  Right now, you are getting rid of my idols, help me to be responsive to what your spirit is doing.  Amen 

Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)

John 2:6-11

1) Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)

2) Scripture Reading - John 2:6-11
Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

3) Devotional 

What do you think when people claim to have witnessed a miracle? I admit that I view reported miracles with skepticism. However when I see the result of a miracle, I believe it with all of my heart. In this passage, Jesus turns water into wine. Just like the master of the banquet, I would have needed to experience the miracle before I believed it.

The miracles that I witness most are changed lives. Paul writes in Second Corinthians 5:17, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come.” When I claimed to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord and therefore become a new creation, I needed to see myself as a new creation in order to be sure that a miracle actually took place in me. If the water that was turned into wine did not look and taste like wine, it would not have been wine and no miracle would have occurred. If I look and act today as I did before I accepted Jesus as my Savior and Lord, no miracle would have occurred. Is there enough evidence in your life for you to believe that you are a follower of Jesus? If there is, a miracle has occurred. If you and your friends can experience your changed life, you then know that God did a miracle in you.

God is in the business of miracles. I have experienced one of His miracles personally. 

4) Question to Consider

Have you experienced any miracles?

5) Prayer
Lord, thank you for changing my life.  Continue to change me to look more like you.  Transform my life beyond what I think is possible.  In Jesus' name.  Amen