The
Devotional
Comment:
As we approach this Christmas all believers in Jesus Christ
will have this in common, we have “faith” in God. We do not have faith in the
doctrines of men, or the creeds of a religion, nor do we hold faith as an
object of personal work to gratify or appease God. The object of our faith is
the Christ, also known to the Jewish nation as the Messiah. The world around us
does not understand and in many minds of unbelieving people we are seen as
ignorant, unlearned bigots, (a blind guide). 1 Peter 4:14 NKJV – If you are reproached for the name
of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.
We follow the GOD/Man from Nazareth and as Nathanael stated
before he personally met Jesus said, can anything good come out of Nazareth? I found
it interesting looking at the word Nazareth in the concordance, Nathanael is
the next word listed below the word Nazareth and before Nathanael met Jesus he
could say as we did, did anything good come out of Nathanael? What about after
he met Jesus? From John 1:49 these words of Nathanael read, “You are the Son of
God, You are the King of Israel!” this too, when we meet Jesus by that same
faith is found on our lips.
Devotional:
There are many more potential Nathanael’s whose hearts are
open to meeting the Savior and this Christmas is the perfect time to share the
events of the Birth and Death of Jesus Christ of Nazareth to those who view you
as a follower of the Nazarene. If you are saved by the grace of God through
faith, then you already know the gospel. It was and is good news anchored in
your soul and it will be good news to those who hear it for the first time.
You may say, well they heard this gospel message before! Why
bother them again? Well so did you, but how many times did you hear it before
you finally heard it for the first time? For six years I heard of the saving
power of God in Christ, before I heard for the first time and believed in 1975.
There are many people you know who are experiencing the “draw and tug” of God as
He prepares their soul to come to Jesus.
Matthew 4:18-21 – And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. King
James Version.
As a young believer the only version I read was the KJV and
the passage above was and still is one of my favorites. I thought “I wondered
how it might have felt to these four men as they heard Jesus call them and what
it might be like to go fishing for men” that is until I had the opportunity to
witness the pull and draw of God in the life of those being saved through the
words He used as I shared “faith in Jesus” with other men. God is the fisherman
and we are the bait. So do not be a brat and wiggle off the hook, hang on the
catch is worth the struggle.
We need to be immediate in our walk with the LORD, Peter and
Andrew immediately left their fishing nets and followed Him, as did James and
John. The world we live in today is no different than those days of Jesus and
His disciples. People NEED the LORD and if you are my brother or sister in
Christ, our faithfulness to God is revealed by the power of the gospel to those
who have NO hope.
Yes this Christmas we must reveal the Baby in manger, but we
also need to reveal the God/man of the cross and one more thing. He is risen –
we must reveal the victory that Jesus has over sin and death. Weeping we may
see the tomb, but rejoicing because we have seen by faith and know the tomb is
empty. Like Mary Magdalene in John 20:11-18.
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