Daily Bible Reading: John 12:20-50 - Jesus Begins His Discourse

Much of this section of John 12, that want to see Jesus,  is Jesus speaking to his disciples.  I am posting highlights of what he said to them, but we start with a group of men who wanted to see Jesus:

V21-22 "and there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: the same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying Sir, we would see Jesus.  Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus."

In John chapter 10, Jesus speaking of himself as the Good Shepherd, tells of "other sheep" which would be brought into the fold.  In the verses above, we have Greeks (Gentiles) seeking Jesus.  These are an example of the "other sheep".  Those in authority wanted to kill Jesus, but here we have Gentiles seeking him.

Daily Living: The Wonderful Gift of Rain

Job 5:8-10 "I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause: which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number: Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields."

Psalm 147:7-8 "Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God: Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains."

Isaiah 55:10 "For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater
1 Kings 18: 41,44-45 "And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.  And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand.  And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.  And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain....."

I used to take rain for granted.  Living on Canada's West Coast there was always abundance of rain.  We didn't pay much attention to it, seldom used an umbrella.  It was just part of life and was never extreme.  We used to joke that people who carried umbrellas must surely be tourists, for no local would ever carry an umbrella. There were no hurricanes, tornadoes or large hail..  I loved walking in the rain, and listening to it on roofs of cars.  When I was a child my bedroom was below ground and my mother would turn on the sprinkler at bedtime so the sound of it would mimic rain and I would fall asleep.