John – Page 100 – I'm Following Jesus

KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Thursday, October 05, 2017
Chapters: Luke 4-5, John 1:15-51
Message: Being A Disciple Of Christ

Hello My Friend,

When you read about all the miracles Jesus performed in the three and a half years of His ministry on earth it brings great faith, He touched and healed everyone, believers and non-believers alike. Once in a while the question does come up, “Why did Jesus do that then, but does not do it now?” Well, never stopped, He still does. That medical miracle was not something by chance, it was Jesus, that miraculous escape from a vehicle crash was not by chance, it was Jesus. Jesus has always had just one purpose, to save man, He uses many means to reach people, a few respond and get saved, but the majority let Him slip right through their fingertips. “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.” – Romans 11:29-32.

“that he might have mercy upon all.” When you think about, God really is merciful to all, I mean, the earth could be wiped out in the blink of an eye, yet we are all walking, talking, living as we please. There will come a time with mercy will run out, but right now we have work to do, we need to tell everyone we can about Jesus. It is not always easy talking about Jesus, even Jesus Himself spoke about the very things we talk about and they still did not want to hear it. Right after Jesus had been baptized, spent forty days in the wilderness, and endured the temptation of the devil He immediately began His mission, He would go into a town, preach from the Scriptures, touched and healed many, welcomed by many, but when He went home He was not welcome there.

“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son? And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,” – Luke 4:16,20-22-28.

“saving Naaman the Syrian.” Jesus was trying to show them that their being a Jew was not going to save them, God proved time and time again that it is by faith man is saved, always has been, always will be. The Law, while often enforced, was never intended to bring salvation to anyone, just discipline. God has always known that we cannot follow every rule, that we are, in fact, sinners, He gave the Law to set His people apart from the world, He gave His Son to bring salvation to all who believe in Him. “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.” – Hebrews 10:1-2.

While Jesus is well capable of doing things Himself, He enlists disciples to teach and minister to so that they can bring others to Him, what better witness than someone who’s life has changed by knowing Christ as their Saviour. It was time for Jesus to enlist people in His ministry, He chose twelve men that would travel with Him. Did they all have great faith? Were they sinless? Not one, but each one was used. While passing through the next town Jesus stood by the lake Gennesaret, watching fishermen prepare their nets and seeing the multitude He got into a ship to teach them, after He spoke He encouraged the fishermen to launch our deeper and cast their nets, but Simon, a bit perturbed and skeptical cast one net into the water and they got so much fish that other boats had to come to help. Simon, seeing his error, fell down before Jesus.

“And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.” – Luke 5:3-11.

“they forsook all, and followed him.” Jesus chooses His disciples, we are not perfect, we do not always have great faith, we may even doubt His abilities sometimes, but we are faithful. Some who are not His, will try to convince the world that they are, but they will be found out, and Jesus will take care of them. Look at Judas Iscariot, Jesus knew he was no believer, yet, He allowed him to be there to bring the others to the knowledge that we are all sinners and capable of betraying Him, but the faithful will always return. Most of the Jews denied Jesus as the Messiah, but those who did believe followed Him and He accepted all who followed Him, including a man named Nathanael.

“Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.” – John 1:45-50.

“in whom is no guile!” Guile, trickery or deceit, Jesus allows all to willingly follow Him, He also knows those who truly believe or are just tricking or deceiving others. A disciple of Christ must not let anything come between their faith, they may not perfect, but they must be willing to learn, grow, and pick back up where they left off. “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” – Luke 14:26-27.

Jesus Christ Magnified: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” – Luke 5:32.

Today’s Prayer: God, It is often said that seeing is believing, well, I for one know that to be true, but not as the world would see, but as You would see. I may not have seen Your Son in person the day I believed in Him, but I have seen what Your Son has done in my life since making Him a part of it. Just like the miracle of birth, You created another miracle in my spiritual birth, and while I may not always understand Your ways, I do understand that You love us so much, that Your only option to save us was to give Your own through Your Son. Today, I do not want to ask You for anything, I just to thank You and praise You for being my God, my Father, and my Saviour. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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