I'm Following Jesus – Page 1307 – Mark 8:34 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.

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: Thursday, October 01, 2020
Chapters: Luke 1, John 1:1-14
Message: All Things Are Possible

Hello My Friend,

Do you believe that we are in the last three months of this crazy year? I always get extra excited about reading the Bible in January, which is about the beginning of life and in October, which is about the beginning of eternal life. Actually if you follow the Jewish New Year, we are at the beginning of a new year now, so it sort of makes sense. No matter how badly something ends, there is always hope for a new beginning, and it all starts with Jesus, [John 1:1-7,14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 14 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.]

The Book of John, was written by John, and is addressed to both Jews and Gentiles, it presents Him as the Son of God. John, reveals that Jesus is not only the Messiah, He is also 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 God, and eternal life. It all begins with another man named John, who was the actual messenger sent by God that we learned about from Malachi. It all began with a Levite named, Zacharias and his wife, Elisabeth, whom have never had children. Luke begins with whom this message is addressed to, Theophilus, meaning friend of God.

[Luke 1:1-7 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, 2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; 3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, 4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed. 5 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. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.]

The Book of Luke, was written by Luke, and is addressed to the Greeks, whom Jesus is presented as the perfect man. The purpose of Luke was to give an orderly account of Jesus from His physical 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 it is our mission to reach the lost with the Good News of Jesus and to realize that nothing is impossible with God. Zacharias was a priest, it was his job to keep the lamps burning, he got the shock of his life when an angel visited him.

[Luke 1:11-13,15,17-20 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. 13 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. 15 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. 17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. 18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. 19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. 20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.]

[because thou believest not my words,] Do you see how God still used Zacharias even though he did not believe it was possible for his wife to have a baby? He could not speak for nine months until the baby was born, but God never gave up on him because he was still faithful to Him. Sometimes we need infirmities to remind us that all things are possible with God. And now we come to Mary, Gabriel went to her as well and told her that she was going to have a baby, much to her surprise since she was a virgin, and only engaged to be married.

[Luke 1:26-37 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 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. 29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. 36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.]

[she hath also conceived a son in her old age:] Mary did not waste any time, she rushed over to see Elisabeth, and something amazing happened as soon as she saw her.

[Luke 1:39-47 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; 40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. 41 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: 42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. 46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.]

[and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:] Jesus was barely in Mary’s womb, but the second she got near Elisabeth she was filled with the Holy Spirit. That is what Jesus does to those who have faith in Him, they did not need to see Him, their faith was counted as their righteousness, [Romans 4:4-5 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.]

Many are led to believe that Mary was sinless, this is incorrect, she was not sinless she had God’s favor. The word favor means any act of grace or good will, favor is something that God has given to us as an evidence His good will toward our believing in Him. Mary found favor with God because she believed that Jesus would come to save her. Do you think God would allow a woman that did not believe in the long awaited Messiah to carry His only begotten Son? In order to see a miracle, you must believe in Him. Now, John was born, there was a dispute on what to name him, but when Zacharias wrote, “His name is John.” and immediately began speaking.

[Luke 1:63-66,76-80 And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all. 64 And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God. 65 And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea. 66 And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him. 76 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; 77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, 78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, 79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. 80 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.]

[And his mouth was opened immediately,] The first thing Zacharias did when he could speak was praise God, and not only that, he gave a prophecy. Jesus truly is the light in the dark. I tell you what, sometimes it can be hard to see anything let alone a miracle when things look so dark. There are times when all we see is darkness, but did you ever just sit in the dark, eventually a glimpse of light will show up, and that light is Jesus. He is our guide, our hope, and even when we do not understand we can rest in Him, knowing that all things are possible. We just need to keep telling ourselves that, [Mark 10:27 And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.]

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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