Loving Jesus Style

Scripture Joel 2:12-13 12  “Yet even now,” declares the Lord ,            “return to me with all your heart,        with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13         and rend your hearts and not your garments.”        Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful,        slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. [1] Devotion             Today being Ash Wednesday signals the beginning of the Christian season of Lent. A season of fasting and repentance. Two things that are in short supply in this world. We would rather laugh and feast than weep and fast. Our sins, however, demand weeping and mourning.          ...

Scripture: John 1:29-34             29  The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30  This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31  I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32  And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33  I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34  And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” [1] Devotion             In the biblical timeline we have moved ahead one day. Yesterday John the Baptist declare...

Scripture John 1:19-28 19  And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20  He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21  And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22  So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23  He said, “I am t he voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” 24  (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25  They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26  John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27  even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28  These things ...

Scripture: John 1:14-18 14  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15  (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16  For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17  For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. [1] Devotion In verse 14 we come across an important theological concept. Incarnation is an important doctrinal term meaning that a spirit God took on human flesh in the form of Jesus. [2] John reaches back to pull out the term logos to use in explaining the incarnation. “ This may be the most important verse in the Bible on the doctrine of the incarnation. [3] The literal translation means that Jesus...

Scripture John 1:6-13 6  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light but came to bear witness about the light. 9  The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10  He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11  He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12  But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13  who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. [1] Devotion             The first section introduces us to John the Baptist. Unlike Jesus no claim of being in the beginning with God is made for John. Instead John is sent into the world. “ Although John certainly was sent...

Does God Really Like Me?* Scripture Genesis 1:26-31a 26  Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27     So God created man in his own image, in the image of God, he created him; male and female he created them. 28  And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29  And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30  And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps o...

John 1:1-5 1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2  He was in the beginning with God. 3  All things were made through 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 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. [1] Devotion             The Apostle John begins his Gospel with a word of hope and promise. The opening words are definitely used to stir up in us the words of Genesis and the story of creation. But who or what is meant by this term we have translated as “word?” When we look into the original Greek it gets even more mysterious. Logos can take on various meanings, but here means word most often the spoken word.   “So, John claimed that the God of creation, the ultimate mind of the universe, had taken on human form; he had become incarnate .” [2] , God li...