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John the Baptist was overwhelmed that Jesus was asking to be baptized by him. John had already declared himself unworthy to unloose the latchet of the Christ's shoes, and now the Christ was asking him to administer His baptism (Lk. 3:16).
Likewise, we are often overwhelmed by the idea that the Lord could use us. Who are we to proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ? It is easy to disqualify ourselves and not fulfill God's instructions. However, Jesus told John that he had to do it to fulfill all righteousness.
As wonderful as it may seem, the Lord has chosen to use us. God's Word could not have been fulfilled without John's cooperation. The Lord works through men.
We can do nothing by ourselves, but the Lord will do nothing...
These scriptures record the ministry of John the Baptist. He spent thirty years in the deserts of Judaea preparing for this ministry. Then it only lasted about six months before He baptized Jesus and men started following the Messiah. Yet in those brief six months He turned an entire nation to God.
He did not take the normal approach and go where the people were. He was out in the wilderness and the people came to him. He had no advertisements other than the testimonies of those who had heard him. He wasn't a flashy evangelist wearing the latest styles of the day. He didn't do anything the way the religious leaders taught it was supposed to be done in their seminaries, yet it worked.
In six short months, an entire nation was stirred in anticipation...
In the beginning God created the heavens and earth.
O fall we don't know about the creation, there is one thing we do know – GOD DID IT with a smile. He must've had a blast. Painting those stripes on re zebra, hanging the stars in the sky, putting the gold in the sunset. What a creativity. . . .
Like a whistling carpenter in his workshop, He lived every bit of it. He poured Himself into the work. So intent was His creativity that He took a day off at the end of the week just to rest.
(Read Genesis 1:1,2)
I. The first verse of the Bible gives us a satisfying bland useful account of the origin of the earth and the heavens.
A. The faith of humble Christians understands this better than the fancy of the most learned men.
B. From what we see of heaven and earth, we learn the power of the great Creator.
1. And let our make and place as men, remind us of our duty as Christians, always to keep heaven in our eye, and the earth under our...
ARE YOU BEING DECEIVE? SATAN WILL USE ANYONE AND EVERYTHING TO GET YOU TO DO THINGS YOU SHOULDN'T DO. HE WILL MAKE IT LOOK SO TEMPTING AND THEN GIVE YOU A HUNDRED REASONS WHY YOU DESERVE IT AND THAT IT ISN'T WRONG. DECEPTION CAN BE AVOIDED OR ELSE JESUS WOULD NOT HAVE SAID IN MATHEW 24:4 "TAKE HEED THAT NO MAN DECEIVE YOU."
EPHESIANS 6:11-17 TELLS US TO "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
How could it be that Jesus, who was God (Jn. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:16), and in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, increased in wisdom? (Col. 2:3)
God is a Spirit (Jn. 4:24). Jesus, as God, had existed as a Spirit forever.
When He came to the earth as Jesus, he was Lord at birth, but that was in His Spirit (Lk. 2:11). His Spirit didn't have to grow or increase in wisdom but His physical body did.
The Lord could have done things differently, but He didn't. Jesus came into this world in His physical body exactly as we did. He had to grow and learn.
He became just like us so that we could become just like Him (2 Cor. 5:21).
This is the great exchange. He became like us so that He could bear all our iniquities and become a mercy high priest for us (Heb....
This is the only scriptural record of Jesus' childhood. Yet there is much that we can learn from this brief account.
At twelve years of age, Jesus' wisdom astounded the men who had spent a lifetime studying the scriptures (v. 47). Remember that Jesus did not have full time access to a copy of the scriptures like we do today. He had to depend on His visits to the synagogue and the direct revelation knowledge from His heavenly Father.
He was also asking these scholars questions (v. 46). This is amazing when you realize that in Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge! (Col. 2:3) Although He was God, He inhabited a physical human body that needed to be educated.
He also had a...
