One after Another

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

ONE AFTER ANOTHER

John 1:16-17

16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

NIV

From the fullness of his gracious act we are all receiving one blessing after another, which mainly is the continued forgiveness of our continued sin. Each time we fail God we receive another blessing from Jesus. Sure, we say that once we accepted Jesus as our Lord and savior, when we became born again, God forgave us our sin because of what Jesus did on the cross. But what about all the sin we have committed after we became born again? It is a continued gracious act of forgiveness, one blessing after another which we have. The law was never abolished by Jesus, but he fulfilled it and therefor if we are in Christ we also have fulfilled the law and are now under his grace and truth. Jesus brought us this gracious act, but in that same word we receive his divine influence upon our hearts which is the truth and this truth conceals nothing. What more can any person every want? We spend so much time and effort in pursuit of all sorts of earthly things when we have all we will ever need, one blessing after another. Although it is true that we should not just go about committing as many sins as we desire just to receive another blessing, another gracious act, taking advantage of his gracious manner, we must admit that we will never be free of sin completely until the day we step into the presence of God. Yet in our weak human condition we still receive one blessing after another. 

Voice

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

VOICE

John 1:15

15 John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.'"

NIV

There is no question that John was called or chosen, from his inception, perhaps even before that, by God for a special purpose. He was filled with the Spirit, knowing things far beyond the human ability. His testimony was straight from the mouth of God to the heart of mankind. Man argues based on various denominational preferences whether we are chosen, such as John was, or have the free will to choose such as so many who sought Jesus out. But the fact still remains those of who are believers should also have a testimony from the mouth of God to the heart of mankind. We cannot stay cooped up, metaphorically, within the walls of our church. We cannot isolate ourselves from the world. Yes, we have been told not to be unequally yoked, not to partner with those of the world, for their by default serve Satan, and any partnership, in any way would not be appropriate in the eyes of God. But we were also told to go out into the world and tell everyone about Jesus. We should be like John as one crying out in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, there is one coming who is greater than us because he was before us. John was not the most popular person with everyone, especially those who lived to defy God. We should not expect anything different. Some would tell us to witness to them with love, but John told them the truth straight up. Some would tell us  to tell our testimony by our good deeds, but John just told them who was coming, and what it meant. Some would tell us to make friends first then work our testimony into the conversations, but John was no friend to the world, he simply cried out that Jesus was coming. Where is our voice? 

See The Glory

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

SEE THE GLORY

John 1:14

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

NIV

John is so poetic in the way he tells us that Jesus, who was there, in fact, is the person of the trinity who create everything, also who came to earth in the form of a human being and lived among the people he had created. This required a human mother, but certainly not a human father, as we know the Holy Spirit was responsible for Mary being able to be the mother through which Jesus became flesh. John says he saw his glory, he testifies that he saw the glory of Jesus, the One and Only. But we too who are living today are able to see his glory as well. We can feel the effects of his grace and truth in our lives. Although it is true that Jesus ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father and is no longer living among us, we can still see his glory. We need only read the words recorded for us about him. We can visualize him; we can also see him in the spirit. But we can have the infilling of the Holy Spirit who testifies within us to the glory of Jesus, to the grace and truth that Jesus brought to us. The Holy Spirit confirms in our hearts and minds that Jesus is the One and Only who came from the Father so that we can have forgiveness of our sin, and be redeemed from his wrath and that we can have eternal life in his presence. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we too can say we have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. 

Gods Own

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

GODS OWN

John 1:11-13

11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

NIV

It is not really clear why, but the fact is, that God choose the nation of Israel as his own nation, his own people. That is the reason Jesus entered the world as an Israelite infant. But it was also clear by the time John was inspired to pen this gospel they had rejected Jesus, in fact they tried to kill Jesus, but we know by doing so they actually accomplished the will of God. Now that just might have been the master plan of God in the first choosing them as his own, knowing full well what they would do. But the great part of this all is the fact that whoever does receive Jesus will become Gods family. We who believe are now actually the children of God. As Paul wrote, we who have become circumcised of the heart are now actually the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people, God’s special people, God’s own. We are children of God, but as we see not in the sense we are children of our parents or parents of our children, for that is by a decision parents make to have a child, but here we are children of God because he has declared us so, because we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. This should encourage us beyond measure. First we have eternal life, but also as his children we will inherit all that is his, we are in fact co-heirs with Jesus. We cannot be sure just exactly all that includes, but we know it is so far more than we can ever imagine. The truth is being born of God is being Born Again. 

Recognizing

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

RECOGNIZING

John 1:10

10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.

NIV

True it might be difficult to recognize an infant as the Savior of the world, but John has not taken us through that trip to Bethlehem. John starts right out at the very beginning of the public ministry of Jesus. We are going to see God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit all in one place at the same time making sure that mankind knows this is him who will save them from their sins. But despite all that the world has refuse to see who Jesus really is. It has not changed for two thousand years. People still do not recognize him as the Son of God, the Savior of the world. Many follow after some dead god; many follow after some dead leader who claims to have seen a vision of some god. Many follow after science, after man’s knowledge, after what they can see. Many follow after knowledge, after intellect, after other men. All in some effect to find the meaning of life, but according to God, himself, they are all fools. Why do people spend so much effort trying to avoid recognizing Jesus? We will see in due time through the very words of Jesus the reason they spend so much effort to not recognize him. They do not want to live in the light, but love the darkness because they can do anything their heart desires to serve their own lusts and passions. We are so blessed to have been drawn out of that darkness and brought into the light simply by recognizing that Jesus is who he says he is and that he created all that is, including us, seeing him as our Lord and Savior. We are no longer a part of this world, but rather we are a part of the kingdom of God. Praise God we recognized him. 

Testify

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

TESTIFY

John 1:6-9

6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.  

NIV

Although this is historical fact that John the Baptist was this man sent from God and that we know all about him the sense of some of his life, as recorded in other Gospel accounts there still is lessons for us within. As John was sent from God to testify concerning the light, so that through the light, through Jesus, all men might believe, so are we. God has sent out to testify that Jesus is coming. John told the people the Messiah was coming, “make straight the way of the Lord”. We should be telling people Jesus is coming and they need to make their lives straight in the way of the Lord. The first time Jesus came, he came to give light to the world. He came so that everyone might have the opportunity to be saved from the justice of God, in fact, his own justice. But the day is coming when he comes once again, but this time it is not to give men opportunity for their already have it. This time he is coming in power to judge the world. How much more we should be testifying that he is coming. John brought good news to the people; Jesus was coming to give them light. We must testify news that could be good if their accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, but not so good if they refuse. It is a sad day we someone tells us that they will not believe in Jesus, that they will not be born again. But that does not relieve us from our call to testify that Jesus is coming, to make ready their lives, to get ready for the coming of the Lord. 

Light

DEVOTION

THE GOSPLE OF JOHN

LIGHT

John 1:4-5

 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

NIV

Jesus created life, he created our lives. What human can actually create life from nothing? Those who want to ignore God and ignore Jesus, actually refuse to accept him as God, try their very best to convince everyone, but mostly themselves that all this just happened. They endeavor to believe that life just happened in some primordial soup based on the theory that enough Hydrogen and Oxygen bombarded the planet from outer space to create an atmosphere capable of sustaining this substance which spawned a one cell life form which evolved into us over billions of years. If that is not a bunch of hogwash, what is? Life could not exist unless it was started, created by Jesus. Now we also must see that not only our life was created by him, but that our light, our mind, our intelligence is because of Jesus. As much as he has shined into the lives of mankind, there are still those who live in the darkness of their own making, closing their minds, their spirits to his light. So often we believers are considered closed minded because we will not accept their bizarre theories, but it is them who are truly closed minded to the things of God. We need to remain closed to their ideas, but completely open to the light of Jesus. We must always live in that light. How blessed we are to have had the light revealed to us, as once we did  live in that darkness, deep in it, so far within, but that light made it way into our hearts and minds. Praise God for his light, for Jesus.