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Dori chasing his dad around. He is only 10 weeks old.

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We really need to post more pictures and videos on here for sure. Just looking over some old stuff and it still amazes me how much has changed.

The next chunk is where things get a little more interesting. I try to make it a point to include the scripture so you can see where the info is coming from. We will take it in small chunks as we go. That being said, today's challenge is to read the below.

The Foreshadowing of Jesus and John the Baptist

John 1:4-14 Mark 1:1-11

In Him (Jesus) was Life; and the Life was the Light of men and the Light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

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Ok, calling for a bit of a mulligan last week. Ended up getting sick and just didn't finish well last week with that and putting down of Glenn. That being said, let's pick up where we left off:

The Eternal Jesus

John 1:1-3

So who or what is this Word? We established "the Word" has always been around and seeing that He is described as God in this passage as well, we can confirm this is Christ. Strong's definition is simply log'-os; from G3004; something said (including the thought); by implication, a topic (subject of discourse), also reasoning (the mental faculty) or motive; by extension, a computation; specially, (with the article in John) the Divine Expression (i.e. Christ):—account, cause, communication, × concerning, doctrine, fame, × have to do, intent, matter, mouth, preaching, question, reason, + reckon, remove, say(-ing), shew, × speaker, speech, talk, thing, + none of these things move me, tidings, treatise, utterance, word, work. John references this term for Christ a few more times (John 1:14, 5:7, & Rev 19:13). So how does this differ from the role of the Spirit in the OT and the writing of scripture? 2 Tim 3:16 says it was given by inspiration of God. This means that God, yes the 3 fold person, was there giving the word of scripture to only unveil to Christ in His fullness to us. Look at 2 Peter 1:16-21. The OT was written in effect to show us the path and to give us the only path, Christ only, to the fullness of salvation. So yes, the Word, Christ, has always been and came to restore God's promises in our lives because there was no other way, and He loves us that much. Seems like so much for the first few verses. I hope this is blessing you!

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The Eternal Jesus

John 1:1-3

Let's just start by looking at a couple words.

"the beginning" according to Strong's from G756; (properly abstract) a commencement, or (concretely) chief (in various applications of order, time, place, or rank):—beginning, corner, (at the, the) first (estate), magistrate, power, principality, principle, rule.

This is also used in Matt 19:4 where Christ is talking about the beginning of mankind. John truly is referring to our history and how Christ was there at the very start. The word used for God in Gen 1:1 is 'ĕlōhîm being a plural of 'ĕlôha. There are other examples where God refers to Himself in the plural as well (Gen 1:26, Gen 11:6-7, 1 Sam 16:13, & Isaiah 6:8 to name a few). Christ has always existed and has been an integral part of not only the creation process but also in the collective existence and direction of life itself (Heb 1:1 - 2:8 & 11:3). Scripture truly only gives us a small nugget of who God really is, and for us to begin to understand Him, we must believe that while Jesus was not named at the start, He was still there and part of the entire process. I hope this blesses you today.

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Jeremy Mather had started this project probably around a year ago, so I really want to share it with you. I still need to get it finished up, but after reading thru the Gospels in chronological order, he mentioned how most days he was reading the same lesson 2-4 times, but just a different perspective. So today, we start. Not really by daily readings, but more sections of scripture. I plan on posting and taking time to "work out" an understanding of it as the week progresses. I'm very thankful for his hard work and dedication to doing so. I hope you enjoy.

The Eternal Jesus

John 1:1-3

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.

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By what right do we become a “royal priesthood”? By the right of the Atonement. Are we prepared to leave ourselves resolutely alone and to launch out into the priestly work of prayer? The continual grubbing on the inside to see whether we are what we ought to be generates a self-centered, morbid type of Christianity, not the robust, simple life of the child of God.

In regard to prayer, we are apt to be apologetic and apathetic, complex and confused; yet what a splendid audacity a child has, and that is what our Lord taught us to have.

Reflection Question: With whom, or in what situation, do I need to become less self-centered and more God-centered?

At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 18:1‭-‬4 KJV

Quotations taken from My Utmost for His Highest and Christian Discipline, vol. 2, © Discovery House Publishers

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Beware of imagining that intercession means bringing our personal sympathies into the presence of God and demanding that He do what we ask. Our approach to God is due entirely to the vicarious identification of our Lord with sin.

Intellect and prayer are united in the saint in the consciousness of Christ which we share, consequently the consciousness of self-realization is a perversion and a snare.

Reflection Questions: Do my prayers sound like an employee asking for a raise? How should my relationship with God be different from that of an employee?

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4:15‭-‬16 KJV

Quotations taken from My Utmost for His Highest and Christian Discipline, vol. 2, © Discovery House Publishers

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Launch out in reckless belief that the redemption is complete, and then bother no more about yourself, but begin to do as Jesus Christ said—pray for the friend who comes to you at midnight, pray for the saints, pray for all people. Pray on the realization that you are only perfect in Christ Jesus, not on this plea—“O Lord, I have done my best, please hear me.”

So many of us limit our praying because we are not reckless in our confidence in God. In the eyes of those who do not know God, it is madness to trust Him, but when we pray in the Holy Spirit we begin to realize the resources of God, that He is our perfect heavenly Father, and we are His children.

Reflection Question: What would “reckless belief” cause me to do today?

praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Ephesians 6:18‭-‬20 KJV

Quotations taken from My Utmost for His Highest and If You Will Ask, © Discovery House Publishers

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Jesus says there are times when our heavenly Father will appear as if He were a most unnatural father, callous and indifferent. But remember, says Jesus, I have told you—“everyone who asks receives.” When we get into spiritual confusion the usual way out is to say we have made a blunder, and we go back instead of forward. “I don’t know what to do; I am up against a stone wall.”

Will you “hang in” to what Jesus said? If there is a shadow on the face of God the Father just now, remain confident that ultimately He will give His clear issue as Jesus said. It is not a question of black or white or right or wrong, of being in communion or out of communion; but a question of God taking us by a way which in the meantime we do not understand.

Reflection Questions: What is one issue about which God seems indifferent to me? Is my response one of faith or doubt?

If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

Luke 11:11‭-‬13 KJV

Quotation taken from The Place of Help, © Discovery House Publishers

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The only platform from which the holiest saint on earth is ever heard is the platform mentioned in Hebrews 10:19, we have “boldness to enter the Holiest by the Blood of Jesus.” There is no other way. When we come into the presence of God, the human side of our praying makes us realize that if we are ever going to approach God and pray acceptably, it must be by the “piece of God” in us which He has given us.

It is because our Lord Jesus Christ went through the depths of agony to the last ebb in the Garden of Gethsemane, because He went through Calvary, that we can boldly enter the holy place.

Reflection Question: How can I be sure I am praying acceptably?

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

Hebrews 10:19‭-‬22 KJV

Quotations taken from If You Will Ask, © Discovery House Publishers

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In prayer have we learned the wonderful power of that phrase “boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus”? It means that we can talk to God as Jesus Christ did, but only through the right of His Atonement. We must never allow the idea that because we have been obedient, because our need is great, because we long for it, therefore God will hear us. There is only one way into the holiest, and that is by the blood of Jesus.

Spiritual certainty in prayer is God’s certainty, not a side-eddy of sanctimoniousness.

Reflection Question: When was the last time I tried to see an issue from God’s perspective rather than ask Him to see it from mine?

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Ephesians 2:8 KJV

Quotations taken from Our Brilliant Heritage and Disciples Indeed, © Discovery House Publishers

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Starting this next devotional on Monday July 10th. Would love for you to join in.

I would like to read Oswald Chambers: Prayer - A Holy Occupation with you.

https://bible.com/p/59394517/b07b729ab3f58689bb02bab988ae2884

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The awesomeness of our Lord God and Savior. It is a little after 2 am that I am posting this and just about 1 hour ago my sister in law called to say my brother passed from this world to his eternal reward. Below is the last reading with scripture for the devotional we have been on. I can't help but see how God plans everything out exactly as He wishes. Over the last year or so my brother and I would spend Sunday evenings after service at Braums eating ice cream and encouraging each other. I truly Cherish those times. This last Sunday I took my granddaughter out with me seeing that I felt the importance of maybe making the same connection with her. Please read and keep in mind how God works everything out to His timing. Please keep us in prayer as we continue in this journey. - Brian

Ultimate Healing

Resurrection from the dead is the “ultimate healing.”

Every true Christian has been imbued with eternal life. It is planted as a constantly maturing seed in our mortal bodies. It is within us, an ever-growing, ever-expanding process of development; and it must eventually break out of the shell to become a new form of life. This glorious life of God in us exerts pressure on the shell, and, at the very moment resurrection life is mature, the shell breaks. The artificial bonds are broken, and, like a newborn baby chick, the soul is freed from its prison. Praise the Lord!

Death is but a mere breaking of the fragile shell. At the precise moment our Lord decides our shell has served its purpose, a sudden rush of eternal life floods the soul, and God opens the shell only to free the new creature that has come of age.

Paul said, “To die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). That kind of talk is absolutely foreign to our modern spiritual vocabularies. We have become such life worshipers that we have very little desire to depart to be with the Lord.

Here is my honest prayer to God.

Lord, help me cut loose from the bondage of things. Let me not squander my gift of life on my own selfish pleasures and goals. Help me to bring all my appetites under your control. Make me remember I am a pilgrim, not a settler. I am not your fan, but your follower. Most of all, deliver me from the bondage of the fear of death. Make me finally understand that to die in Christ is gain. Help me to look forward with precious anticipation to my moment of ultimate healing.

“I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore” (Revelation 1:18).

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:

Philippians 1:21‭-‬23 KJV

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Jesus and Storms

Jesus ordered his disciples into a boat that was headed for a collision. The Bible says he constrained them to get into a ship. It was headed for troubled waters; it would be tossed about like a bobbing cork. The disciples would be thrust into a mini-Titanic experience, and Jesus knew it the whole time.

The boat trip, the storm, the tossing waves and the winds were all a part of a trial the Father had planned. They were about to learn the greatest lesson they would ever learn. That lesson was how to recognize Jesus in the storm.

They recognized Jesus as the Christ, the very Son of God. But they had never learned to recognize Jesus in the storm. Tragically, those disciples who thought they really knew him best could not recognize him when the storm hit.

That’s the root of most of our trouble today. We trust Jesus for miracles and healing. We believe him for our salvation and the forgiveness of our sins. We look to him as the supplier of all our needs. We trust him to bring us into glory one day. But when a sudden storm falls upon us and it seems as if everything is falling apart, we find it difficult to see Jesus anywhere near. We can’t believe he allows storms to teach us how to trust. We are never quite sure he is nearby when things really get rough.

In their darkest hour, Jesus went to them. How difficult it must have been for Jesus to wait on the edge of that storm, loving them so much, feeling every pain they felt, wanting so much to keep them from getting hurt, yearning after them as a father for his children in trouble. Yet he knew they could never fully know him or trust him until the full fury of the storm was upon them. He would reveal himself only when they had reached the limit of their faith. The boat would never have gone down, but their fear would have drowned them more quickly than the waves beating on the ship. The only fear of drowning was that of drowning from despair, fear and anxiety.

God saw that storm through different eyes. It was as much a test for these disciples as the wilderness was for Jesus. God took them away from the miracles, shut them up in a tiny, frail boat far from the upper room, then turned nature loose. God allowed them to be shaken but not sunken.

There was only one lesson to be learned. It was a simple lesson, not some deep, mystical, earth-shattering one. Jesus simply wanted to be trusted as their Lord in every storm of life. He simply wanted them to maintain their cheer and confidence even in the blackest hours of trial. That’s all.

And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.

Matthew 14:22 KJV

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Will God Ever Answer My Prayer?

Have you ever asked that question? Is there one special matter you have been praying about for a long time with no apparent answer in sight? Are there times when you wonder if the answer will ever come? If you must answer yes to the above questions, you are in good company. You are not some strange kind of Christian, suffering chastisement from the Lord. The delayed answer to prayer is one of the most common experiences shared by even the saintliest of God’s children.

Let me bare my soul to you on this matter of unanswered prayers. You cannot feed your faith only on self-serving promises of healing, wealth, success and prosperity, any more than you can grow healthy and strong eating only desserts. Faith comes by hearing “all the Word,” not just preferred portions.

There are times in the Bible when God could not, or did not, answer no matter how many times it was asked for, no matter how great the faith or how positive the confession. Paul

was not delivered from the affliction that buffeted him, though he prayed diligently for an answer. “Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me” (2 Corinthians 12:8).

First, God wanted to see the work of grace completed in Paul. he would not permit his child to become puffed up with pride. But look what it worked out in Paul, proving God was right in not answering his request.

“And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong” 2 Corinthians 12:9–10.

Why didn’t Paul preach the message we hear so much today, “You don’t have to suffer infirmities, poverty, distresses, suffering. You don’t have to put up with necessity or weakness. Claim your victory over all suffering and pain . . .”?

More than healing, more than success, more than deliverance from prickly thorns—Paul wanted Christ! Paul would rather suffer than try to overrule God. That is why he could shout, “I glory in my present situation. God is at work in me through all I suffer. In and through it all, I know my present suffering cannot be compared with the glory that awaits me.”

Faith is a gift, not a diploma. Faith should not be a burden or a puzzle. The more childlike it is, the better it works. You need no seminar or textbook; you need no guide. The Holy Spirit will lead you closer to Jesus who is the Word by whom comes faith.

For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

2 Corinthians 12:8‭-‬10 KJV

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God Has Not Forgotten You

There is a fiery message burning in my bones. It is a message every Christian needs to hear, especially in this age of overpowering temptation and excruciating hurt.

The message I bring you from the Lord is simply this: God has not forgotten you. He knows exactly where you are and what you are going through right now, and he is monitoring every step along your path. But we are just as the children of Israel who doubted God’s daily care for them, even though prophets were sent to deliver wonderful promises from heaven.

God’s people sat in darkness, hungry and thirsty, praying for deliverance and comfort. Did God’s people quit their fretting and begin trusting in the Lord to see them through? Did those who were hurt and confused believe a single word of these promises? No!

Here we are today as children of the same holy God, having in us the glorious promise of Holy Ghost comfort; yet we go about daily fearing the oppressor. We know what our Lord has promised us: guidance, peace, a shelter from the storm, a way where there seems to be none, a supply for every need, healing for every hurt. Do we believe any of it?

We forget in our hour of need that God has us in the palm of his hand. Instead, like the children of Israel, we are afraid we are going to blow it all and be destroyed by the enemy.

It seems to me even the New Testament echoes God’s displeasure with unbelief.

“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:6–8).

Jesus was concerned that when he returned to this earth, he would not find any faith left. Can it be that we continue in our hurt, in our sin or in living in defeat and failure simply because we really do not believe God answers our prayers anymore?

Instead of submitting to the Lord in quiet confidence and resting in his promises, we try so hard to work out our own solutions. Then when our way of doing things blows up in our faces, we get angry with God.

God has not forsaken you or me. No! A thousand times no. Right now, he is wanting us all to believe he is working all things out for our good. So quit trying to figure it out. Stop worrying. Stop doubting our Lord. The answer is coming. God has not shut his ear. We will reap in due season, if we faint not.

Zion says, “The Lord has abandoned me; The Lord has forgotten me! ”

Isaiah 49:14 HCSB

I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; and forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?

Isaiah 51:12‭-‬13 KJV

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

James 1:6‭-‬8 KJV

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God Can Use You in Spite of Your Weaknesses

God has determined to accomplish his goals here on earth through men with weaknesses.

One of the most encouraging scriptures in the Bible is 2 Corinthians 4:7: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” Paul goes on to describe those earthen vessels as dying men, troubled on every side, perplexed, persecuted, cast down. Even though never forsaken or in despair, those men used by God were constantly groaning under the burden of their bodies, waiting anxiously to be clothed with new ones.

God mocks man’s power. He laughs at our egotistical efforts at being good. He never uses the high and mighty, but instead he uses the weak things of this world to confound the wise.

“For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence” (1 Corinthians 1:26–29).

Wow! Does that ever describe me. God calls us in our weaknesses, even when he knows we’ll do it wrong. He puts his priceless treasure in these earthen vessels of ours, because he delights in doing the impossible with nothing.

God delights in using men and women who think of themselves as unable to do anything right.

No matter how powerful and honorable a man may be, God cannot use him until he falls in the dust and gives up all his idols. Human pride must be smashed. All our boasting must be silenced. All our thoughts and plans must be abandoned. All human achievement must be recognized for what it is: filthy rags and a stench in God’s nostrils.

It may be little by little, but the day will come when faith will conquer. I will not always be a slave. I am not the devil’s puppet. I am a weak child of God, wanting the strength of Jesus. I am not going to be another victim of the devil. I am going to come forth as pure gold, tried in the fire. God is for me. I commit it all to him who is able to keep me from falling and present me faultless before the throne of God with exceeding great joy.

For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

1 Corinthians 1:26‭-‬28 KJV

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

2 Corinthians 4:7 KJV