Day 126 Bible Reading - John 5: 2-9 (ESV)

Judges 4 & 5, John 4: 43-54, John 5: 1-15, Psalm 71: 1-8

John 5: 2-9 (ESV)

“Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.”

I love the way The Chosen TV series dramatized verses 2 through 9 from John 5. They added extra dialogue, but the essence of the scene is the same. The actor who played the paralyzed man did such a great job portraying the agony of someone who had been lying at the pool for that length of time. The makeup people did such a great job on the actor as well. The paralyzed man looked dirty and totally looked like he hadn’t taken a bath in years. When I watch the scene, I can almost smell the stink coming from the paralyzed man. They also portrayed John writing this healing scene down in his journal which was a nice touch.

When Jesus healed the paralyzed man at the pool, I loved his reaction. His spontaneous and almost hysterical laughter and tears of joy felt so real. The depiction of Christ healing someone through a person’s faith in him was depicted so well. When I feel the love of Christ in my heart, I almost get the same type of reaction. I’m not hysterical with laughter, but I feel tears and joy at the same time radiating throughout my body.

Enjoy the scene!

War and Peace Film Series (1966-67) on Max and YouTube

I decided to watch the War and Peace 4-part movie on Max just to see what the films were about compared to the 2016 version created by the BBC starring Paul Dano.

War and Peace Film Series

This movie was directed and co-written by Sergei Bondarchuk, and was made during the Soviet era of Russia. It's all in Russian with English subtitles, although they seem to skip subtitles on some conversations. There is also a commentary for most of the scenes. 

For a 1960's film, I was amazed at the number of cast members. This film was made before CGI and special film effects, so the people on the set are real and the cast was HUGE! It's really amazing to see the practical effects and crowd scenes knowing they are all real people and not fake scenery.

The movie is long, but it's fun to watch if you're a film buff and enjoy watching a movie made before CGI. The folks who put this movie together really did an amazing job of crowd and war scenes. There are not many close-ups and the scenes are often filmed with a stationary camera, which remind me of old 1950's Japanese movies.

If you have Max, I would recommend a view. It's worth watching!

I found the 4 movies on YouTube - check it out.

Day 125 Bible Reading - John 4:34 (ESV)

Judges 2: 6-23, Judges 3, John 4: 27-42, Psalm 70

John 4:34 (ESV)

“Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”

Verse 34 from John 4 is a teaching from Christ I wish I had. In this verse, Jesus is saying that doing the will of God and finishing the work is like eating food that satisfies him. When I first read this interpretation of this verse in a bible commentary, the first thing that came to mind was I never think of doing God’s will and completing the task as satisfying as food. Doing God’s will has always been a chore to me, something I know I have to do because of my faith and obedience to God. But it has rarely even been as satisfying as a good meal. I don’t get that kind of satisfaction. I think I feel a sense of relief that I was able to do God’s will, and maybe even a sense of pride in myself that I did it and finished it. But satisfying? Very rarely.

But I think I need to change my attitude about doing God’s will. My pastor preached this Sunday that we need to try to live our life as Christians and become more like Christ. If I want to be more like Christ, I think I need to try to find satisfaction in doing God’s will and completing whatever that task requires. I don’t think this is going to be an easy lift, but I’m willing to try. I will probably have to pretend that doing God’s will is as satisfying as food at first, until it does become satisfactory. I think I can at least start with doing 10 minutes of God’s will every day with the attitude that what I am doing is as satisfying as a good meal. It’s a small amount of time, but I think it’s a good start.

Day 124 Bible Reading - John 4: 13-14 (ESV)

Judges 1, Judges 2: 1-5, John 4: 1-26, Psalm 69: 29-36

John 4: 13-14 (ESV)

“Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

In verses 13 and 14 from John 4, we see Jesus talking to the woman he met at the well in Samaria. I love these verses where Jesus compares himself to water, and that what he had to teach and offer would give a person lasting satisfaction so they would never by thirsty again. The water from Jesus will also turn into a “spring of water” that will give the person eternal life. I love the image of the water of Jesus coming into a person and never running out. Or, perhaps there is water or light within us, and we just have to let Jesus into our hearts and he will open us up and find the light, the well of faith within us so we will never be without water or faith or light.

Other bible commentaries remind us that we as human try to satisfy our inner thirst through many things except what Jesus has to give us. Only the love and faith in Christ can ever satisfy our inner thirst to the deepest levels of our soul and spirit. And when we sometimes feel empty again, we just need to continually sip from God’s water by praying to him, reading his words in the bible, and feeling our inner connection with him. God’s water is always there for us and will never run out for those who believe in him.