Loving Jesus Style

              3  In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 3  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,          “The voice of one crying in the wilderness:          ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’” 4  Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5  Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6  and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 7  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8  Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9  And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10

  The Truth 31  So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him,   “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32  and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32 (ESV) Devotion             It is election season now. We have about 2 weeks until the election and the candidates are making their final appeal to the voters. We hear conflicting positions, and it is hard to tell who is telling the truth and who is not. As Christians we are called to discern the truth and in discerning that truth, we will be set free by Jesus. But how do we know what the truth is, how can we tell truth from error?             We must use the straight edge of scripture to determine truth from error. Something that is true must correspond with reality. Someone says the grass is green we look and see that in fact the grass is green we know we have been told the truth. Anything else would be error. Telling the truth is telling the way things truly are. Error does not c

  Perfect Love Scripture: 1 John 4:18 18  There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. (ESV) Devotion             Those of us who claimed the name of Jesus as Lord must refuse to live in fear during these times of pandemic and social unrest. Jesus says in John 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (ESV) In this verse Jesus is practically guaranteeing that we as Christians will have trouble. However, we should not be afraid because Jesus has overcome the world.             God has always walked with His people. He told Joshua to be of good courage as he led Israel across the Jordan river into the promised land. Many times, throughout the Bible God has told his people not to be afraid. So, God tells us through the word that we need not be afraid today. This does not mean that we are called to act foolishly. We need to wear our masks, practice social