The Devotional – Come and See

The Devotional – Come and See

Comment: If you are a student of the Living Word of God, and I hope you are, then you are sometimes moved to joy in your soul when a particular phrase or word comes alive. A friend and pastor used to say that God the Holy Spirit points us to words and phrases, if we do not respond or search them out at that moment then the Holy Spirit places those words or phrases on what my friend called the back burner to simmer for a period of time. I love the thought of this happening in my journeys through the Holy Word of God. One such phrase that catches my eye and one that has sat on the back burner has simmered enough, that now it is time for us to enjoy the meal. In John 1:43 Jesus spoke only two words to Philip, “Follow Me” The words grip my soul even today, can you imagine the impact of those words to Philip at that moment in time past?

Devotional: John 1:43-51 – At the beginning of the Ministry of Jesus, men were looking for the Messiah, the time for His appearance was at hand. John the Baptizer was baptizing and his message was national repentance from religious idolatry. He was fulfilling Isaiah’s message, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the LORD.” Isaiah 40:3. We call “the scriptures of that day the Old Testament” yet for these men these were not old, these were the current manuscripts of TRUTH, by the way, these STILL are and along with the New Testament complete the Word of God to mankind.

When Philip heard the voice of His Messiah, it was His soul that recognized who was speaking, “Follow Me”, Why? Because Philip studied the manuscripts, notice John 1:45 which reads, “Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote – Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph.” Now I will say to you, “do the words of Jesus speak to your soul?” This is a question that only you can answer.

Nathanael who may have been a little more skeptical, or maybe not as keen in the manuscripts questioned Philip’s integrity in his comment about the Messiah; “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” I like Philip’s response “Come and see” these words are equally powerful as the words of Jesus, meaning that when we respond to the LORD’s direction we have the spiritual ability to lead others to Christ also.

The statement of Jesus in verse 47 of John 1, is a revelation to Nathanael’s soul, that He who spoke to Him is omniscient (all knowing) Jesus says “Behold (look) an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit” John 1:48, in this verse when Messiah speaks, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 

Some say that Jesus saw Nathanael under the fig tree because he was reading from the Old Testament manuscripts, this could be, but whether true or not; Jesus saw Nathanael because there was no religious idolatry in Nathanael’s heart, his soul was open to Truth. Is your heart open to the Truth of God? Does your soul respond as Philip’s did when Jesus calls from the Holy Scriptures to follow Him? Are you looking steadfastly for the heavens to open and the return of Christ?

The Devotional - Ramping it up a bit

The Devotional

Comment: A few days back I said that we would look at the Gospel of John from one Characteristic of God, (Love) to isolate just this one Characteristic might be idolatry for some of us so I believe that we ought to ramp it up a bit and consider as many of God Characteristics as possible. Basically there are 10, but there are many, about 31 other attributes of God that fulfil or help us as His Children to understand the Awesomeness of God who is Spirit. If we are going to worship God, we must do so in the Spirit, a simple but demanding Truth from the lips of Jesus the Messiah. “But the hour is coming and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the father in the spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth.

This study of God’s Character is from the teaching of one of the elders of our church, I have incorporated his message in my words into these devotionals, I hope you will find the blessing that I received as I am being taught.

Devotional: John 1:1-4 – Is it possible to see some of the Character of God in these verses? As His children the answer is emphatic “YES” God can be seen in these verses as “Eternal” as “In the beginning God” before anything existed, God did and along with His existence was His Word an attribute of God’s Veracity (Truth) is visible. Also we can detect His Omnipotence (Power) in “all things were made by Him and without Him nothing was made that was made.

If we are honest we can see that God is Incomprehensible (He cannot be totally understood) as “And in Him was life, and the life was the light of men” Incomprehensible is an attribute of God’s Omniscience, thus God is not totally understood and He is therefore “unsearchable”. Yet because God is Love, He is self-revealing, thus He is condescending or transcendent, He alone provides the understanding of Him to His finite Creation, which is more than adequate for our mind to comprehend. See Job 9:10; 37:22-23 and Psalm 113:1-9.  

In the beginning is a statement of God’s Eternality, He alone is infinite, in Solomon’s prayer and dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem, Solomon speaks these words to God – 1 Kings 8:27 “But will God indeed dwell on earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built”. So in conclusion this morning we can see that the Light that shines in the darkness, is the revealing Light of God’s Love. The Love of God is perfect LIGHT. 

God’s Light “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down One’s life for His friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you”. John 15:13-14. Are you God’s friend today?

God cannot be seen, but through His Light we can see His love – 1 John 4:7-19.

The Devotional - What is that between your ears?

The Devotional

Comment: Many folks do not understand the ministry of baptism and repentance from good and evil, nor do they understand faith toward God. Good and evil is the world’s mode of operation; it would be good to go to church, it would be evil to refrain from church. It would be good to practice a religion, it would be evil to reject religion. Israel in the day of John the baptizer was steeped in religion, yet they were full of idolatry and immorality. Malachi the prophet of God said in his book that Israel was polluted because their offerings to God were contemptible, their priest were corrupt, they were full of treachery and infidelity (this too, is a current day description of religion) – Malachi 1 and 2. He continues for two more chapters, in chapter 3 there is a promise from God to send a messenger, this messenger is John the Baptizer. Now in chapter 4, the next event on God’s calendar is the Great and terrible Day of the LORD. Malachi is to be studied in devotion to God and not in the pretense of religion. This is true of all of the Living Word of God.

Devotional: John 1:19-28 – Question: Do you have a religious relationship with your church, or do you have a PERSONAL relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ? The answer to this question is the difference between eternity in heaven and eternity in hell. The distance is not very far, for the average person it is only six inches. Say what? Yes, it is the distance from your right ear to your left one. In other words… where do you place your heart and soul? Do you place your heart and soul in the hands of human religion or in the Hands of the Living God?

If you are depending on the polluted priests and the offerings of sinful man in their religious practices then, quite frankly you are on your way to an eternity without God. Notice the testimony of John the baptizer when the priests and Levites asked John, “Who are you?” John’s reply “I am not the Messiah/Christ”. The priests and the Levites knew Malachi’s prophesy, they were seeking to know if John might be the Messiah.

John the baptizer quotes from Isaiah the prophet and says this: “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness (religion), make straight the way of the LORD.” Israel like the religion of our day is in the eyes of God a wilderness and dessert, in other words. GOD IS NOT PRESENT IN RELIGION. Religion understands the messages and warning of God in His Word and religion looks for the return of God, but it is not PERSONAL thus it is full of FEAR.

John the baptizer’s message to the religious crowd of his day was to repent from this understanding of God and return to a PERSONAL relationship with God. So many people heard the message and came to John the baptizer at the river Jordan and was baptized. They confessed their idolatry and immorality AND they changed their mind about their relationship to God. This same message of repentance is very real and vital for each of us today. We MUST be willing in our heart and soul to trust God and reject religion.

This change of mind is the only WAY is the Biblical definition of repentance. He who comes after repentance from the dead works of religion is the PERSONAL GOD of CREATION. As we move into John chapter 1 on Monday we will see that He is Jesus/Messiah. He is preferred because He is God, John says that the coming One is the Messiah with these words. “It is He who, coming after me, is preferred (ranks higher) than I, whose sandal strip I am not worthy to loosen.” If your relationship to God is through Jesus, then you understand John’s message.