Day 359: Be Like John

John 3:1-6

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 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.’” Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

John 3: 11

 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Many of us know who John the Baptist is, we know of Him and we know the work He did before Jesus. John was the one to come before the Messiah to prepare the way for when He got there. John preached a message of repentance, he came baptizing the people who repented of their sins. One thing that John made sure that everyone knew was, he was not the Messiah. In fact the Messiah is much greater than him. He is only preparing the way for when the Messiah comes. John came to start something that Jesus would come to finish. 

What I'm getting at here is, John was not Jesus, and he made sure that everyone knew that. John did not try to be Jesus, instead he did what he was sent to do, the same way Jesus did. I here many of us talk about how we are not perfect, and how we are not Jesus. First of all we are not called to be Jesus we are called to be like Him. We are called to mock the perfect man and get as close to perfection as possible. If we were all called to be the Messiah then God would never have sent His son to die on a cross for us because we could have saved ourselves. Instead we were sent a savior because we were and constantly are in desperate need of a savior. We ourselves are not the savior. With that being said, we may not be Jesus but we can be John. 

We can prepare the way for when Jesus comes. We can live a life dedicated to Him, leading His people to Him everyday. While we are on Earth I believe that we can take an example from John as well. We are not the Messiah but we are as close to the Messiah that people will see before Jesus actually makes His return. This does not mean that we are physically baptizing people everywhere we go, although some of us may end up doing that. What that means is being a Christ example. Being a person that follows Christ, ad lives off of His every word. We can be the people that preach a message of repentance, and grace, and love letting people know that their is something greater to life. Their is something bigger than ourselves, and understanding that even at our greatest moments Jesus is greater and He will do more than we can ever do. But in the meantime, while we are waiting for His return, let's prepare the way for the Messiah when He returns in the same way John did. 

Reflection

1. What life lessons can we learn from John the Baptist?

2. Are you living a life that points to Christ?

3. If you were the only bible that anyone ever read, or the closest thing to Jesus anyone ever sees, what would people see?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Have a conversation with God about what we talked about today. Whatever is on your heart today, pray about it. 

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 360!

Day 243: Believe the Hype!

John 1:27

even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”

Many of us know who John the Baptist is, he is the one who came before Jesus. He came baptising people with water and telling them that the true Messiah is coming. The people loved John, they even thought he was the Messiah, but John was just like, no it’s not me. If you think I’m something wait until you see who's coming. It’s the Messiah, and He’s so great I’m not even worthy enough untie His slippers. He didn’t say tie, he said untie, I feel like that put emphasis on how great Jesus is. But let’s back up for a minute, the birth of Jesus had been prophesied centuries ago, and the coming of the Messiah was also promised centuries ago. So people were ready, they were hyped, about the Messiah, they were looking for Him. Every time someone like John the Baptist passed by they asked, “Are you the Messiah?” They were diligently seeking and waiting on Him.

Isaiah 7:14

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Immanuel translates to mean, ‘God with us’, as the suffix or prefix “el” translates to mean God. What He is saying here is that God is literally coming to earth to save us. He will be in our midst, physically. Jesus is fully God and fully man, He’s not a spirit. Isaiah’s prophecies were so on point that scholars thought he wrote them after Jesus was born, after His life and resurrection, but the prophet’s writings were found in the Dead Sea scrolls, using paper dated before the time of Jesus, also written in Hebrew, Jesus spoke Aramaic, and the new testament is written in Aramaic and Greek. This goes to show that God’s word had come to fruition. Everything that God said through Isaiah was true.

Jesus was special, He was born of the Virgin mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit, He was great even before He was born. People traveled days to see Him on the night of His birth, just to worship Him. The star of David appeared the night He was born. It was a big deal. This is the birth people were waiting on. The Savior they had been looking for was born. It is imperative to remember that during the time of Jesus birth King Herod was killing all male babies because he did not want to be replaced. He literally had all the make babies killed hoping that one of those babies would be Jesus. But God spoke to Joseph telling them to flee. What God wants to happen cannot be interrupted. No matter how hard Herod tried he could not stop God’s plan.  

Jesus was that guy. He was the one, there was talks about His coming centuries before He was born, and still excitement over His life, death, and resurrection, thousands of years later. Isaiah spoke so much of Jesus and how He is the Savior of the world.

Isaiah 35:5-6

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness,

and streams in the desert;

Isaiah 42:1

Behold my servant, whom I uphold,

my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.

All this to say, believe the hype! Believe it all, Jesus is everything He is pumped up to be and more. Today I just wanted to talk about the magnitude of how great Jesus is, and leave it open for discussion. Also to get you all excited about Jesus, like there is so much surrounding His birth, life, death, and resurrection. These people were not hyped for no reason. Jesus was coming to save us, and every aspect of that was a miracle, from His birth to His life and all the signs and miracles He performed. Also the gift of the Good News. He brought us the Gospel, the greatest story to ever be told was told by Jesus. So yes, believe the hype, believe it all.

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to respond in whatever way you feel led. There are no questions today, but allow this to make you think about the goodness of Jesus, and even have a discussion. Take the time to pray and have a conversation with God.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share and discuss this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 244!