Jesus Devotional - Day 1
Day One
Jesus: Real, Relevant, and Radical!
I Can Believe
I want to start by thanking you for joining us on this journey! Over the next several weeks, we will explore the life of Jesus. I am not naive enough to believe that we can uncover everything there is to know and learn about the greatest “Personality” in the universe in just a few weeks. We will never fully uncover all there is to know about Jesus. John expresses this at the end of his gospel:
John 21:24-25(NLT) “This disciple is the one who testifies to these events and has recorded them here. And we know that his account of these things is accurate. 25Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.”
John reiterates what he wrote in Chapter 20: that Jesus did many more miraculous signs in addition to the ones that were recorded. As an eyewitness to Jesus’ life, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension, John states that the world could not contain or record everything Jesus did. The recorded and written accounts were made so that we may believe and continue to believe that Jesus is not just a good man, but the Savior we all need and the King to whom we will all give an account someday. By believing in Him, we gain life through the power of His Name!
John 20:30-31(NLT) “The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.”
The purpose of this Devotional is to:
We have many ideas and concepts about Jesus—who He was, what He did, and more. What we have done with Him is that we have turned Him into a kind of caricature in our minds. We imagine Him flying around and performing all kinds of amazing feats; like turning water into wine, talking to the weather, walking on water, multiplying a little boy’s lunch to feed the entire town, bringing dead people back to life, or rescuing others in the nick of time.
Others of us have cloaked Him so deep in religious nomenclature and jargon that the reality of His person is no longer evident. We have a sanitized version of Jesus that is meek and mild, only suitable for a stained-glass window! Of all people who have ever lived, no one has been talked about more, debated more, quoted more, or cursed more than Jesus. When people curse, they don’t say, “Oh Buddha” or “Oh Muhammad.” Even in mental health, if patients have grandiose identity disorders, it is Jesus they imagine themselves to be. Do grandiose Buddhists imagine themselves to be Buddha? It is in Jesus’ name that desperate people pray, fearful people cry out, lonely people cling to, grateful people worship, and angry people curse.
More books have been written about Him than anyone else, and He is the main figure of the bestselling Book of all time: the Bible. (Guinness World Records: the Bible has sold over five billion copies since 1815.) He inspires more songs than anyone else, more art; and more movies have been made about Jesus... In fact, the most-watched film in cinematic history is the 1979 movie simply titled Jesus. This film has been viewed by over five billion people across more than 200 countries and translated into over 800 languages and dialects.
So, as we embark on this journey together over the next several weeks, we want to discover who He really is. But the real question is: Who is He to you? I love the way John Ortberg put it:
“Maybe Jesus was just a sympathetic figure that happened to come along when Roman infrastructure was good and Greek philosophy was undermining the gods, when paganism was dying, and social systems were collapsing, when stability was down, and anxiety was up, and gullibility was strong, and it was just dumb luck. Maybe Jesus was a kind, simple, innocent soul with a good mom and a knack for catchy sayings who showed up in the right place at the right time. Kind of like a 'Jesus Gump’; maybe his place in history is a remarkable accident, but maybe it is not.”
As we start this Holy Week, this Passion Week, let’s not treat it like business as usual. How can we, during this most Holy of weeks, see what we need to see, hear what we need to hear, and do what we need to do? When our world is spinning out of control and bad news comes at us faster than a pitch from a major league pitcher. What do we do? When our emotions are on edge and our future seems to hang in the balance, who do we turn to? You might find the answer too simple for your liking, but we need to see Jesus!!!
John 14:1(NLT) "Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.”
John 14:6-7(NLT) “Jesus told him, ’ I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. 7 If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!’”
PRAYER FOCUS:
Jesus: Real, Relevant, and Radical!
I Can Believe
I want to start by thanking you for joining us on this journey! Over the next several weeks, we will explore the life of Jesus. I am not naive enough to believe that we can uncover everything there is to know and learn about the greatest “Personality” in the universe in just a few weeks. We will never fully uncover all there is to know about Jesus. John expresses this at the end of his gospel:
John 21:24-25(NLT) “This disciple is the one who testifies to these events and has recorded them here. And we know that his account of these things is accurate. 25Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.”
John reiterates what he wrote in Chapter 20: that Jesus did many more miraculous signs in addition to the ones that were recorded. As an eyewitness to Jesus’ life, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension, John states that the world could not contain or record everything Jesus did. The recorded and written accounts were made so that we may believe and continue to believe that Jesus is not just a good man, but the Savior we all need and the King to whom we will all give an account someday. By believing in Him, we gain life through the power of His Name!
John 20:30-31(NLT) “The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.”
The purpose of this Devotional is to:
- Solidify our faith in Christ.
- See Jesus for Who He really is
- Understand and recognize the power of His Person.
- Realize that we are to show forth His glory.
- Know what it means to be a fully devoted follower of Christ.
We have many ideas and concepts about Jesus—who He was, what He did, and more. What we have done with Him is that we have turned Him into a kind of caricature in our minds. We imagine Him flying around and performing all kinds of amazing feats; like turning water into wine, talking to the weather, walking on water, multiplying a little boy’s lunch to feed the entire town, bringing dead people back to life, or rescuing others in the nick of time.
Others of us have cloaked Him so deep in religious nomenclature and jargon that the reality of His person is no longer evident. We have a sanitized version of Jesus that is meek and mild, only suitable for a stained-glass window! Of all people who have ever lived, no one has been talked about more, debated more, quoted more, or cursed more than Jesus. When people curse, they don’t say, “Oh Buddha” or “Oh Muhammad.” Even in mental health, if patients have grandiose identity disorders, it is Jesus they imagine themselves to be. Do grandiose Buddhists imagine themselves to be Buddha? It is in Jesus’ name that desperate people pray, fearful people cry out, lonely people cling to, grateful people worship, and angry people curse.
More books have been written about Him than anyone else, and He is the main figure of the bestselling Book of all time: the Bible. (Guinness World Records: the Bible has sold over five billion copies since 1815.) He inspires more songs than anyone else, more art; and more movies have been made about Jesus... In fact, the most-watched film in cinematic history is the 1979 movie simply titled Jesus. This film has been viewed by over five billion people across more than 200 countries and translated into over 800 languages and dialects.
So, as we embark on this journey together over the next several weeks, we want to discover who He really is. But the real question is: Who is He to you? I love the way John Ortberg put it:
“Maybe Jesus was just a sympathetic figure that happened to come along when Roman infrastructure was good and Greek philosophy was undermining the gods, when paganism was dying, and social systems were collapsing, when stability was down, and anxiety was up, and gullibility was strong, and it was just dumb luck. Maybe Jesus was a kind, simple, innocent soul with a good mom and a knack for catchy sayings who showed up in the right place at the right time. Kind of like a 'Jesus Gump’; maybe his place in history is a remarkable accident, but maybe it is not.”
As we start this Holy Week, this Passion Week, let’s not treat it like business as usual. How can we, during this most Holy of weeks, see what we need to see, hear what we need to hear, and do what we need to do? When our world is spinning out of control and bad news comes at us faster than a pitch from a major league pitcher. What do we do? When our emotions are on edge and our future seems to hang in the balance, who do we turn to? You might find the answer too simple for your liking, but we need to see Jesus!!!
John 14:1(NLT) "Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.”
John 14:6-7(NLT) “Jesus told him, ’ I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. 7 If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!’”
PRAYER FOCUS:
- Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help you focus your eyes on Jesus.
- Ask the Lord to help you avoid a troubled heart and to strengthen your trust in Him.
- Thank the Lord for what He has done for you. Thank Him for the price He paid so that you may know the Father.
- Pray for others: Ask the Lord to reveal specific people for you to pray for this week...
Posted in Jesus Devotional