On many occasions Jesus told someone to “Follow Me.” Some did, but many did not. First off, we humans don’t like to be told what to do…we don’t like rules, especially rules on God’s terms not ours. But also, our selfish and controlling self wants to put “Following Jesus” in a neat well-defined package…like only on Sunday mornings in Church, while the rest of the week we’ll live for ourselves. But when Jesus says, “Follow Me” there is no room for negotiations…for He is God and we are not. That means we are to follow Him in faith, trust, and obedience, not the other way around…for it’s His agenda and His mission, not ours.
Category: daily devotional blog
I Timothy 4:9-10 ” This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, Who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.”
Hope…there’s a big difference between what the Believer and non-Believer thinks about this word. For the non-Believer, it’s about wishing for something which may or may not occur. In contrast, to the Believer, hope is based on their faith of a living God with assurance to what He has promised in His Word. In addition, this eternal hope is found in their trust and confidence in God’s Son, Jesus Christ…their Lord and Savior.
Deuteronomy 6:13 ” Fear the Lord your God, serve Him only and take your oaths in His name.”
When you go to court, before you are allowed to speak, you are sworn in. This swearing in is a pledge of allegiance to give your word or truth…so help you God. But God also used oaths to show with absolute certainty that His promises would be kept…and since there was no higher authority than Himself, God swore by Himself. In Isaiah 45:23 He said, “By Myself I have sworn.” And in Jeremiah 22:5, He exclaims, “I swear by Myself.” When we take an oath in God’s name, it is a binding agreement or covenant…a solemn pledge not to be taken lightly.
Micah 7: 7-8 ” But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.”
Christmas can be a very tough time for those who have lost loved ones. That empty chair at the Dinner table is a sad reminder of happier times and the flood of memories from Christmases past makes the day a little harder to bear. This week we attended a funeral of a friend and then this morning we got the call that a family member had just passed. So this verse is very special this Christmas Day, for there is always hope in Jesus…and though sorrow and loss come into all our lives and we sit in the darkness created by them…we have assurance that we can rise on the wings of hope into His blessed light.
Luke 2:14 ” Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.”
God’s glory came to earth…His transcendent and infinite greatness, the sum of His perfection took the shape of a tiny baby born in Bethlehem. God’s peace came to earth…the gift of reconciliation with our Creator came to us in the form of the Gospel Message, the Good News of salvation. God’s favor came to earth…His Good Will was lavished on us while we were yet far from Him, His Good Pleasure not to see any lost. Isaiah best sums it up, “For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)
Luke 2: 36-37 ” There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the Temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”
“For your Maker is your husband – the Lord Almighty is His name.” (Isaiah 54:5) For over sixty years this was the Scripture the widow Anna clung to…a unbreakable covenant tie of love and loyalty when there was no one else. She was a well recognized and respected fixture at the Temple, for it says she never left but worshiped night and day. And like Simeon, she was longing to see the promised Messiah. So on that day when Mary and Joseph presented the baby Jesus in the Temple, Anna knew this wasn’t any ordinary child…for this was the fulfillment of prophecy. And she was one of the first to publicly announce that the Messiah had come.
Luke 2:28 ” Simeon took Him in his arms and praised God.”
As was the Jewish custom, Mary and Joseph brought baby Jesus to the Temple on the 8th day in order to present Him to the Lord. Now Simeon was a very elderly Jew who had devoutly waited his entire lifetime to catch a glimpse of the Messiah. It says that the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die before seeing this wondrous site. Do you think the Holy Spirit whispered to him that morning, “Today is the day, Simeon…today you will come face to face with your promised Savior!” I can only imagine Simeon’s excitement as he watched the crowds entering the Temple…”Is that Him? Is that Him?” And when the Holy Spirit nudged him, do you think he was astounded to see a tiny baby? Simeon then gently gathered Jesus in his arms and looked heavenward, tears streaming down his face, as he proclaimed, “Sovereign Lord, as You have promised, now dismiss Your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to Your people Israel.” (Luke 2:29-32)
Luke 2:7 ” And she gave birth to her first-born son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the Inn.”
Due to the census, all the places for weary travelers to lodge were full. I wonder if the Inn Keeper, in a attempt to appease a desperate father-to-be and a obviously very pregnant woman, offered the barn as a way to pacify his own guilty conscious? Or was it just a after thought to get them away from the front door of the establishment? But God knew exactly where His Son was to be born…with no onlookers, no mid-wives…only lowly animals to serve as witnesses to the greatest event in history.
Matthew 2:1-2 ” After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the East came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the East and have come to worship Him.’ “
These three men who made the long journey from the East were not magicians, nor were they idolatry seekers. They were of noble birth, highly educated, wealthy, and influential. They had studied Hebrew Scripture and were familiar with the coming Messiah…so when this magnificent star arose in the sky, they had only to go back to Scripture to see that this star was the herald of the Messiah’s coming. Numbers 24:17 gave them this clue, “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.” And no amount of intellectual, logical, or analytical thinking could deter them then from following this star…for they believed.
Luke 2:15 ” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Lets’ go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ “
Shepherds were some of the most marginalized people group of Biblical times…they were relegated to an unimportant and distasteful position within Jewish society. But yet, God saw fit for them to be the first to hear about the birth of the Messiah. But why? We have only to search Old Testament Scriptures to see the clear correlation between the shepherds on that dark hillside and Jesus Christ. Probably one of the best known Psalms, the 23rd Psalm, starts out, “The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want.” Isaiah 40:11 talks of Jesus like this, “He tends His flock like a Shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart…” And if we look in the New Testament, Jesus Himself says, “I am the good Shepherd.” (John 10:14) And elsewhere we find, in Hebrews 13:20 Jesus is called the Great Shepherd. This scruffy group of men might not have had much notoriety before men…but before God, He chose to honor them in the same way He honored His Son…the Shepherd of all mankind.
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