Bible League: Living His Word "So go and make followers of all people in the world."— Matthew 28:19 ERV Jesus has a pretty good bio. I wonder if that phrase has ever been spoken. If so, whoever said it was either crazy, lacking in intelligence or was spiritually blind. Jesus doesn't have a "pretty good" bio. He has the best bio of all time... without a doubt. Jesus Christ was born in a small town named Bethlehem (not Pennsylvania). His parents, Joseph and Mary, loved and served God. A carpenter, like his dad, he liked to work with His hands and build things for people. He was a precocious child who was known, on occasion, to come across to others as a "know it all." Some say that it comes as no surprise since He really did know it all. Also known for talking about Himself quite a bit, Christ was never wrong in doing so. We often fault others for talking about themselves. But with this man, it was actually a virtue! He talked about Himself a lot and remained the most humble and kind person ever. He made many remarkable claims. One of His greatest claims was that He claimed to be God. He said things like: "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). Not just anyone can get away with making claims like that. A true people-person, Jesus loved everyone who ever lived. He has more friends than anyone who has ever walked the earth. And He is always open to more friendships with whomever would like to be His friend. He enjoys knowing anyone and everyone. He even likes to hang out with people who might be rejected by many in society... ex-cons, bikers, prostitutes, drug dealers, etc. And He loves for His friends to tell their friends about Him so He can have even more friends! He likely has the largest friend-group ever. What a man! A well-known author, Jesus is credited with the writing of the Bible, #1 best-selling book in the history of the world. No small accomplishment. Known as a man of prayer, Jesus is said to have received historical answers to prayer, and most notably, He brought a man back from the dead in answer to one of His prayers. Can you believe this guy!?! There's nobody else like Him. One of the things He is most widely known for is that He died and paid for the sins of the world, a tremendous feat which nobody else has ever been able to accomplish or ever will. A shock and a surprise to many, one day, He beat death by rising from the dead. And then, to top that, He later ascended into heaven. Remarkable! Obviously, Jesus' life is unmatched. We've only touched the surface. It would take volumes to record His innumerable accomplishments and impactful statements. Jesus has a powerful and wonderful bio with a great ending. He will live forever, as will every single one of His friends! He just wants us to help Him make more friends. Follow Him and tell others about Him. By Chaney Rader, Bible League International Staff, USA Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingPsalm 119:105-176 Psalm 119 -- Blessed are those whose ways are blameless NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading 1 Corinthians 5 1 Corinthians 5 -- Expel the Wicked Man NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end.Insight Jesus knew he would be betrayed by one of his disciples, disowned by another, and deserted by all of them for a time. Still, he “loved them to the very end.” God knows us completely, as Jesus knew his disciples. Challenge He knows the sins we have committed and the ones we will yet commit. Still, he loves us. How do you respond to that kind of love? Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Ephesians 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.Beyond measure it is desirable that we, as believers, should have the person of Jesus constantly before us, to inflame our love towards him, and to increase our knowledge of him. I would to God that my readers were all entered as diligent scholars in Jesus' college, students of Corpus Christi, or the body of Christ, resolved to attain unto a good degree in the learning of the cross. But to have Jesus ever near, the heart must be full of him, welling up with his love, even to overrunning; hence the apostle prays "that Christ may dwell in your hearts." See how near he would have Jesus to be! You cannot get a subject closer to you than to have it in the heart itself. "That he may dwell;" not that he may call upon you sometimes, as a casual visitor enters into a house and tarries for a night, but that he may dwell; that Jesus may become the Lord and Tenant of your inmost being, never more to go out. Observe the words--that he may dwell in your heart, that best room of the house of manhood; not in your thoughts alone, but in your affections; not merely in the mind's meditations, but in the heart's emotions. We should pant after love to Christ of a most abiding character, not a love that flames up and then dies out into the darkness of a few embers, but a constant flame, fed by sacred fuel, like the fire upon the altar which never went out. This cannot be accomplished except by faith. Faith must be strong, or love will not be fervent; the root of the flower must be healthy, or we cannot expect the bloom to be sweet. Faith is the lily's root, and love is the lily's bloom. Now, reader, Jesus cannot be in your heart's love except you have a firm hold of him by your heart's faith; and, therefore, pray that you may always trust Christ in order that you may always love him. If love be cold, be sure that faith is drooping. Daily Light on the Daily Path Isaiah 46:4 Even to your old age I will be the same, And even to your graying years I will bear you! I have done it, and I will carry you; And I will bear you and I will deliver you.Isaiah 43:1,2 But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! • "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. Isaiah 46:4 Even to your old age I will be the same, And even to your graying years I will bear you! I have done it, and I will carry you; And I will bear you and I will deliver you. Deuteronomy 32:11,12 "Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, That hovers over its young, He spread His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions. • "The LORD alone guided him, And there was no foreign god with him. Isaiah 63:9 In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old. Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Romans 8:38,39 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, • nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Isaiah 49:15 "Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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