Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Meditating on the Gospels - Day 3


  • Who has been a “John the Baptist” in your life to prepare you to meet Jesus?
  • How is repentance linked to your experience of salvation: in the past? Now?
  • How has God affirmed you as a child in Christ?


Matthew 3English Standard Version (ESV)

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

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[a] 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.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee fromthe wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
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 youwith the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

The Baptism of Jesus

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him,[b] and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son,[c] with whom I am well pleased.”


1 comment:

  1. Who has been a “John the Baptist” in your life to prepare you to meet Jesus? My Grandfather is definitely the one who led and prepared my way to meet Jesus when I was a teenager. Living by example, sharing his faith and loving others wholeheartedly but also admitting his faults, sins and failures and the grace that God extended to him and that He extends to us all. He just turned 90 and I am so proud of the man of God he is and so thankful to have him in my life.
    •How is repentance linked to your experience of salvation: in the past? Repentance, letting go of the past to become who I am today is so much a part of my salvation. Not that I was a bad kid, but certainly as a teenager making choices that could have led me an entirely different way and away from God. His grace allowed me to repent and move on. Jesus changed my life! Now? I may not make the choices I made as a teenager, but certainly have things to confess and repent about. Remembering how repentance delivered me in the past and made me a changed person should be a reminder to repent and bring my challenges before God more often.
    •How has God affirmed you as a child in Christ? He's always there. I know I am his child because he changed my life. It's hard to explain my heart and how I know what I know, but I know!

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