Matthew – Page 202 – I'm Following Jesus

KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Sunday, October 01, 2017
Chapters: Luke 1, John 1:1-14
Message: It Is All About Believing

Hello My Friend,

Each of the four Gospels, while many talk of the same events, has a particular audience it addresses as well as a different form of Jesus. The timeline for these events took place approximately between 4BC and 33 AD. The Book of Luke, written by Luke, was addressed to the Greeks, whom Jesus is presented as the perfect man, while the Book of John was addressed to both Jews and Gentiles, presented as the Son of God. The purpose of Luke was to give an orderly account of Jesus from birth to show that He is the promised Messiah, descending through the lineage of David and to give an account to the Scriptures regarding John the Baptist. What we are to learn from the book is that our mission is to reach the lost with the Good News of Jesus and to realize that nothing is impossible for God. “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” – Luke 1:37. The Book of John, written by John, a mere disciple of Jesus was to show All that Jesus is not only the Messiah, but the Son of God, and only way to eternal life. What we are to learn from the book is Jesus is the Christ, the only source to everlasting life. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” – John 14:6.

Luke is called by Paul, the beloved physician, he often traveled with Paul throughout his ministry, he treasured the words that Jesus spoke, as well as everything else that concerned the Saviour’s life. Luke begins the book with a dedication to Theophilus, which means friend of God. This Gospel is not addressed to a specific person, but a group of people, those whom are friends of God. Zacharias was a Godly priest, his job was to make sure there was incense burning continuously in the temple. Zacharias’ life was about to change after getting a visit.

“There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.” – Luke 1:5,11-15.

“Fear not, Zacharias:” We need to get a little idea of what is taking place here, this is a time when there were no prophets speaking, it has been centuries since God spoke to anyone, let alone an angel showing up, so anyone who believed in and followed God did so like we do today, they read the Scriptures and believed them by faith. Six months later the same angel paid a visit to someone else, a young woman named Mary.

“And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.” – Luke 1:26-31.

“Fear not, Mary:” Mary too, was a little confused when Gabriel spoke to her, but unlike Zacharias, who doubted, Mary believed right away. There are so many misconceptions about Mary, she was, in fact, a virgin, she was not sinless, she was just like you and I, and she too had to have faith in God. Favor; Any act of grace or good will. Favor is something that God has given to us as evidence of His good will toward our believing in Him. Mary found favor with God because she believed and never doubted the power of God. Do you think God would allow a woman that did not believe in Him to carry His only begotten Son? This is confirmed when Mary paid a visit to Elisabeth.

“And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.” – Luke 1:41-48.

“And blessed is she that believed:” Just like any other main character in the Bible, they had to believe before they were blessed to do the task that God gave them to do. Can you imagine having the task of carrying the Son of God in your womb, or leading a group of people across the wilderness for over forty years, or being the one to prepare the Jews for the first coming of Christ? That was exactly what John was called to do for God, ad He too did it by faith.

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” – John 1:6-13.

“and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.” The very man that walked the earth just like you and I is the very man who created the world and everything on it. Yes, God Himself loved His human creation so much that He came here in the form of man to give His life to all who believe. Through the eyes of the sons of God, Jesus was, is, and always will be, not only His begotten Son, but God Himself in the flesh. John was inspired by God to reveal to us that Jesus has always been, and to help us understand that we are not born into the family of God by natural human conception, but by faith alone. Today, no one can be a son of God unless they believe in the Gospel and received Christ as their Saviour. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.” – Romans 10:9-12.

Jesus Christ Magnified: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” – John 1:14.

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 my Saviour. 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 me so much, that Your only option to save me was to give Your own life 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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