Every Day With Jesus Devotional, January 8, 2023
Every Day With Jesus Devotional
January 8: Be Who God Created You to Be
Matthew 3:1-12; Mark 1:1-8; Luke 3:1-18
Matthew 3:1-12
The Mission of John the Baptist
(Isaiah 40:1-5; Mark 1:1-8; Luke 3:1-20; John 1:19-28)
1In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 2And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
3For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias {Hebrew for Isaiah}, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord {Jesus}, make his paths straight.
4And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. 5Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, 6And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
7But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers {snakes}, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
11I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: 12Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
Mark 3:1-12 KJV
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
(Matthew 12:9-14; Luke 6:6-11) {Additional Reading for "Jesus Heals...}
1And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.
2And they {the Pharisees} watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.
3And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.
4And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.
5And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
6And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.
Great Crowds Follow Jesus
7But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea,
8And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.
Luke 3: 1-18
The Mission of John the Baptist
(Isaiah 40:1-5; Matthew 3:1-12; Mark 1:1-8; John 1:19-28)
1Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, 2Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. 3And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;
4As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias {Hebrew pronounciation for Isaiah} the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord {Jesus}, make his paths straight.
5Every valley {Note: emptiness, wasteland, struggle, suffering, lack, depression, problem, condition not in alignment with the will of God, etc.} shall be filled, and every mountain {Note: stubborn problems, giants, huge problems, generational curses, etc.} and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth {Note: these are all promises to the believer};
6And all flesh {people} shall see the salvation of God {Note: another promise. Notice the Word says "all flesh, meaning all people God has created}.
7Then said he {John the Baptist} B to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 9And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
10And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?
11He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.
12Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do?
13And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you {Note: do no more than you have been called to do}. 14And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man {Note: violence is sinful]; neither accuse any falsely {Note: it is sinful to flasely accuse. If you have, repent quickly}; and be content with your wages {Note: Wow! this is also sinful to be dissatisfied with your wages/salary. I am guilty of this! Who isn't? I believe, like Jesus said, in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you". {Note: So I just had this unction/knowing/Holy Spirit led understanding, that God just requires obedient to His Word and promises. When we obey, He changes everything for the better. The confirmation to this is the Word that says "14Is any thing too hard for the LORD - Genesis 18:14? {Note: LORD all caps is referring to God the Father}.
Note: The Christian life is a way of life, and OBEDIENCE to God's Word is Key. Now this gives you a glimpse of the Word, in the Bible, where "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." -John 14:6.
And guess what, He is the way, and He is the Word. Check this out: John 1:1 "1In the beginning was the Word" {Jesus}, "and the Word {Jesus} was with God" {the Father}, and the Word was God {God the Son}". Who do you think the Word is? Jesus/Yeshua/Isa. All of the Word, Old and new Testament.
Note: Look at John 1:14, "And the Word was made flesh" {Note: the Word Jesus was born into a human flesh}. Why? so we can easily relate to Him?}, "and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth". This tells me that God is full of Grace and Truth.
Note: You need to understand this. It is very important. Your salvation depends on this. THE WORD {Scripture} IS ALIVE. Look at this: Hebrews 4:12 says (King James Version) "12For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Note: Hebrews 4:12 says (Amplified Version) "12"For the Word {Jesus} of God {Son of God} is living and active and full of power" {Note: full of the Power means full of the Holy Spirit - Acts 1:8. In John 1:32 } ["making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged [b]sword, penetrating as far as the division of the [c]soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart". Note: This verse is a description of the Word, Jesus.
15And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not; 16John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire {Note: this is why you hear the children of God say "Holy Ghost Fire!"}: 17Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
18And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people.
These Scriptures record the ministry of John the Baptist. He spent thirty years in the deserts done in their seminaries; yet it worked. In a few months, he stirred an entire nation to anticipate the coming of Jesus.
God accomplished this amazing feat through a man who was not “normal.” Too often our “herd instinct” keeps many of us from being used by God. We are so afraid of what someone else will think about us if we do what He tells us to do and live by His Spirit and Word. We try to be like everyone else, and then we wonder why we are getting the same results as everyone else. That’s not smart! {Ha ha ha!}
John was completely yielded to the Holy Spirit, and he succeeded against all the odds. Dare to follow the Holy Spirit, even if it means going against the crowd, and you will get supernatural results too. {Note: I love it!}
Devotional by Pastor Andrew Wommack
Blog by Kingdom Business Us dot Blogspot dot Com pflb (c) 1/8/23
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