KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Monday, October 01, 2018
Chapters: Luke 1, John 1:1-14
Message: Nothing Is Impossible With God
Hello My Friend,
Each of the four Gospels, while many talk of the same events, has a particular audience it addresses, God designed the Gospels as a way for all to be able to believe, whether it be a Jew, Greek, Roman, or any other ethnic. The timeline for these events took place 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, addressed to both Jews and Gentiles, presented Jesus 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. The Book of John, written by John, a mere disciple of Jesus, 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 these books is Jesus is the Christ, the only source to everlasting life, and that nothing is impossible with God. “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” – Luke 1:37.
I was led by God to read the Bible in order of events, which is why we come to Luke first. This is exactly why He had me do it this way, to get a deeper understanding of the events that took place before Christ, the prophecies leading up to His birth, death, and resurrection, and even those concerning John the Baptist. If you recall yesterday when we read in the Book of Malachi about God sending Elias (Elijah) to tell of the coming of Christ, the Book of Luke begins with this account. His father, Zechariah would soon get a visit that no one has gotten in four hundred years. Luke begins with telling us who this is addressed to Theophilus, meaning friend of God.
“Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; 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, That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed. 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 many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 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.” – Luke 1:1-5,11-13,16-17.
“to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” John would be the first prophet to speak the words of God in four hundred years. What did the believers of God do during what we know as the Dark Ages? They did like we do, read the Scriptures, lived by them by faith, taught them, and had hope that the Messiah would come, in fact, every Judaean that gave birth to a male had hope that their son would be the Messiah they had been waiting for. Zacharias was not the only one to get a visit from Gabriel, six month later someone else did also.
“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. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 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. 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.” – Luke 1:26-35-36.
“and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.” How humble was Mary that when Gabriel had told her that she was highly favored by God that it troubled her? When we get the call that God wants to use us for something we get kind of scared, as we have no idea why God would use us. Can you imagine how scared Mary must have been to have been told that she would carry God’s Son? 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 read the Scriptures, had faith in them, and lived by them. God found favor with Mary because she believed and never doubted the power of God, especially when Gabriel reminder her that nothing was impossible with God. Do you think God would allow a woman that did not believe in Him and His Word to carry His only begotten Son? She was bot without sin, she just lived her life the best she could as it was written in the Law. This is confirmed when Mary paid a visit to Elisabeth, and within a few months she gave birth to John.
“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? And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Now Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all. And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God. 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; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,” – Luke 1:41-43,46-47,57,59,63-64,76-77.
“And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.” Do you see that? She knew He was her Saviour. 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, and He too did it by faith.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 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.” – John 1:1-9.
“and the life was the light of men.” That life when it just goes about things without seeing the Light is truly waking in darkness, and there are some that never see the Light no matter how dark it gets. However, to the believer, that Light shines through the darkest days, and, in fact, gives life and light to that lifeless soul. Praise God! 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 (daughter) 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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