Christina – Page 1292 – I'm Following Jesus

King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Sunday, October 04,2020
Chapters: John 1:15-51, Matthew 3-4
Message: Through Their Works

Hello My Friend,

may not have witnessed the miraculous events that took place when Jesus walked the earth, and we may not physically see the body of Jesus right now, but that does not mean that we cannot see Jesus. Look around you, a normal, every day person who has no faith in God will never see Jesus, but the believer will see Him through their works, [Matthew 25:34-35,37,40 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.]

John was the first prophet to speak the things of God in four hundred years. John preached repentance; for them to turn away from their sin and dead works, and turn to God, he also spoke of Jesus, that He would come to baptize believers with something that water could not. Those who repented were baptized in the Jordan River as a public profession of their faith, awaiting the day for the Messiah to come. Many thought that John was their long awaited Messiah, but John set them straight.

[John 1:15-23 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. 16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. 19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? 20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. 21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. 22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? 23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.]

[I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness,] Who is the one crying in the wilderness? Jesus Himself. Now, by human comprehension, John was actually six months older than Jesus. Of course, by faith, we understand that Jesus was not only here before John, but has always been. Up until Jesus met John, although He is the Son of God, He had been like an ordinary man, other than knowing the Scriptures and Him being God’s Son, He did not have His Spirit upon Him yet. So, when Jesus went to John, wanting to be baptized by him, he was confused.

[Matthew 3:13-17 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. 16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.]

[and comest thou to me?] I believe that this was done for the purpose of showing us that this is what happens the second any soul receives Christ as their Saviour. We may not physically see that light and the lighting descending down from the heavens onto our body, but He definitely does, and once we receive Christ we ought to be able to feel it, especially after we are baptized. I know I did. And water baptism is not an addition to being saved,we only need to receive Christ as our Saviour to be saved, [Colossians 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.]

Those who take Christ seriously do not walk with Him to pay the debt we owed for our sin, that was paid for through our faith in Him (Romans 6:23). Amen! We walk with Him because we realize that walking in the flesh comes with great consequence, and we do not want to live like the world anymore because Christ set us free from that. However, just as we set out to live our lives through Christ, here comes the devil in an attempt to overthrow our newfound faith. No one is exempt from the devil’s temptations, not even Jesus. Jesus actually spent a few days with John afterwards, then was led into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

[Matthew 4:1-4,8-11 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.]

[Then the devil leaveth him,] You see, the devil’s biggest tactic is to get people to worship him, and let me tell you, a lot do, our governments, and quite frankly, churches are swarming with people who got their power under the hand of the devil, and it really does take the more powerful hand of God to overcome his power. Now, some of the disciples witnessed Jesus being baptized, and they followed Him before He had went into the wilderness.

[John 1:35-40,42 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; 36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! 37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? 39 He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.]

[What seek ye?] Do you see how Jesus reacted? That is the same reaction He has with anyone who starts following Him. “What are you seeking?” he asks. Are you seeking the Messiah, the Christ, the only one who can save your soul from hell? Or are you seeking to be fed? As some do not believe, they just appear to believe to enjoy the blessings that come with being a witness of Christ. Anyone who appears to be a witness may deceive us who are for a time, but Christ will not be deceived, He knows who are His, [II Timothy 2:11-13 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: 12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.]

Today’s Prayer: Jesus, I want You to be more than my Saviour from death and hell, I want You to be a part of my life, and I want to be a faithful witness of Your Spirit in me. Lord, Lead me, and guide me, give me Your strength to walk and talk as You do. Put Your hedge of protection around me, and keep me looking to You, let me not fall into the temptations of the devil as tries to get me to fall away from You, and let the world see You through me. I ask these things in Your name Jesus, Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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