Alone Time with God

I really see this chapter being broken out into a few pieces that I can personally apply:
1) Verse 3 states that he is fulfilling Isiah’s prophesy that he is shouting in the wilderness. Am I am not able to shout in suburbia?
2) Verse 8 states that we can prove that we have repented by the way we act, not by what we say. I think this is a critical piece for us to remember. As we MerryMob, serve in our community and care for each other, it is important that we follow-up on it. It is important for us to take the steps that we know are right.
3) Verse 15 has Jesus stating that he must be baptized by John because he must do what is right. So, I guess there are certain things that although we live by the grace of God that we must do. If Christ was compelled to do something as simple as being baptized by water, are there some thing s that even I must do?

As I read the account of the Magi in Matthew chapter two I am really intrigued by Harod’s response to the news that Jesus has come. He is so threatened and worried! I suppose he is threatened by the fact that the Wisemen call Jesus the “King”. King is sort of his title. And now someone is trying to encroach on his territory! This “baby king” is going to try to take everything away from him…Harod must have wondered, “who does he think he is to take my title?” With the title goes the power and with the power goes the self-value! It seems like a vicious downward spiral!
Harod was so worried about what Jesus wanted to take away from him he was unable to see all that God wanted to give him! Harod’s insecurities kept him from experiencing the greatest joy in life, the joy of confidence that comes when we know that we are loved and valued by the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. The overwhelming peace of being cared about by the creator of the universe opens up so many opportunities and possibilities that it can only give to your life rather than take away.
My Takeaways
Don’t miss the opportunity to worship the King this Christmas. Don’t allow your fears and insecurities to rob you of God’s gift to you this Christmas. Recognize that God wants to add to you life not take away! It seems counterintuitive, but by giving up your life to the one who is greater you are insuring yourself the greatest outcome you could possible hope for!

verses 1 - 16: The genealogy of Jesus... Something hit me a ton this morning with this genealogy - If I was Abraham, looking down on this text in the Bible, I would probably say "Wow... I now see the plan, as it was really tough to understand God's plan for my life in the moment. God followed through, just 42 generations later"

I am not patient with God most of the time. I see a few weeks, or maybe months, and stretching it sometimes to years as a good amount of time for something to happen. But here, God works his plan over hundreds and hundreds of years. His plan, not Abraham's.

Also - I love going back to Matthew 49 - where Jacob blesses Judah and prophesies the coming Messiah through Judah's line. Chapter 1 vs. 3 - Here is Judah - the line of Jesus.

verse 19 - b/c Joseph was a righteous man... he did not expose her to public disgrace. I find this very important to me. How many times do I want to get back at someone who hurts me... but here, Joseph does not make a scene - which was tied to his Righteousness.

ANOTHER GREAT POINT - How would Joseph have know what the Holy Spirit was - at the time. WE now understand the working on the Spirit - but at that point, Jesus had yet to send the Spirit on His disciples.

This chapter shows me - that I must be careful not to apply my perceptions, assumptions, and expectations on God. This chapter shows that God is working, even when I am not patient enough and when I don't understand.

I am really struck by the power of the "vine" illustration. The vine is the life giving connection to God. It should be our desire to have every connection to God that we can, otherwise we will wither and die.
Some of my observations:

v. 1-6 - The vine is the source for all things good. When we get away from the vine we cannot be refilled and refueled.

v. 1-6 - When we don't produce fruit we are pointless. God will prune us away from the rest of the vine. Fruitfulness is the process of producing the desired result in our lives. Wow, cut off when we fail to produce our intended result!

v. 7-8 - When we are attached to the true vine we are allowed to question and explore and God will direct our paths and fulfill our wondering.

v. 8-9 - If we are in love with Jesus, we will naturally obey His commands and desires. This act validates our love.

v. 10-14 - It is God's desire to give his children, all of his created ones, true joy.

v. 14-17 - God has chosen us as friends as opposed to servants, slaves or any other relationship. That is a huge statement about the way that God loves us and the way he wants to interact with us.

18-25 - When we follow Christ we are choosing to follow an opposite doctrine than the rest of the world. People naturally resist that which runs against the flow of society.

26-27 - God has sent His spirit to us to interact with our spirit and confirm His love to our hearts. As a result we, because of our love of God, are required, no compelled, to tell others of our relationship.

What an incredible chapter. It has a lot packed into a little.

The overall message is quite interesting - Obey my Command and then you love me. What is the command? If I go to the next chapter, chapter 15, it tells me. My command is love: Love each other as I have loved you.

I checked... Jesus gave ONE COMMAND - Love each other. And then He say - if you love me, you will obey what I command.

Does Jesus's ONE COMMAND cover everything? If we really love each other, will that take care of everything else?

I honestly don't quite get verses 1 - 8. I do understand that we often come at things with personal agendas and miss God's agenda, due to our selfishness or naivety - either one. It's interesting how we approach so many "spiritual" things in life with agendas... and most of the time we don't even know it. I know I might have said the same things Judas said. Maybe with different intentions, but I might have missed the whole concept as well.

verse 16 - I find it strange how things happened to Jesus right in front of the disciples, but they didnt get it until after Jesus went to heaven. Again - we sometimes miss what is right in front of us - what God is trying to show us. I wish I saw things they way He does, much more.

verses 42 - 50: Jesus speaks about following His commands and words... and how they lead to eternal life. Sometimes its hard to understand what Jesus is saying. Is the "command" that Jesus speaks about which leads to eternal life "to believe in Christ and that He died for us"? It seems so.

I've always been curious about what Jesus was writing in the sand. Was it the sins of the ecusers? Could it have even been names of adulters among those would be executers? I am also amazed, but not surprised by Jesus' ability to avoid the Pharisie's traps.

I love the first 11 verses of this chapter. It really emphasizes the importance of how we look at other people. And yet, we tend to talk ourselves into judging others and feel justified in doing so. Here, Jesus does not condemn the adulterer, just tells her to go and stop sinning. We are notorious at convincing ourselves that someone is more wrong than ourselves. We make sin and issues "relative" in life.

12-30 emphasizes the importance of relying only on trust in Christ as the basis for our salvation.

Whenever I read the stories of Jesus’ life I am struck by the conflict that men and women surrounding Him feel. It seems to be in line with today. We sense that what He says is true even when we want to disprove His message!
Here are my observations:
v. 1-5 – The people that should be the most loyal to you are often your biggest critics. On the other hand it is interesting that the people that should have known him best had a hard time believing in and accepting Jesus’ deity. It isn’t any wonder that we sometime question the concept that someone can be both God and Man.
v. 7 – Jesus causes us to confront the sin in our lives. The idea that darkness and light can’t coexist in the same place!
v. 10-13 – It seems that wherever Jesus known there are those that passionately love him and those that are ardently against him! It is hard to be indifferent to Jesus.
v. 16-19 – A genuine heart for God is the right compass for recognizing and discerning truth.
v. 28-30 – “knowing God” and “knowing about God are two totally different things!
v. 37-39 – Jesus’ invitation is personal and aimed at individuals, he beckons them with the longing that they have for truth (comparing it to thirst). Jesus promises us that when we come to Him our “thirst” will be quenched.
v. 40-44 – How many times do we make judgments on Jesus and truth with only half the facts? The crowds new that the messiah was to come from the line of David and from Bethlehem but didn’t know that Jesus fulfilled both of those thing.
v. 45-52 – I think it is cool that when they stop and explore and listen to the message of Jesus even His accusers can find no wrong in Him!

I always thought it was cool how John starts off speaking of Jesus as the Living Breathing Word - here from the beginning.

The light shines in the darkness - but the darkness has not understood it... what a powerful concept. What a dichotomy. Darkness is faced head on with the light - the polar opposite of darkness. What is not to understand? This helps me understand how I sometimes miss it. But once you get it, you wonder why it was so difficult.

For the law was given to Moses. Grace and Truth came through Jesus. What an interesting concept as well. The formal do's and don'ts were given to Moses - but Jesus brought something more special, more meaningful. He didn't come to abolish the law, but to make it better. I think that is cool.

I think it is neat how John saw Jesus as the "Lamb of God who takes away our sins". John must have known that Jesus would really be the lamb - die like the sacrificial lamb. Or did he?

Jesus then starts assembling his team, his disciples. I think it is neat how one person would start following and before going, go and grab their brother to join him. It was the first Christ-follower "evangelism" I guess. I find it fascinating that they said "come and see" not "let me tell you about it". I think we as Christians like to talk about it and try to talk people into things, versus saying, "come and see for yourself". Right?