John 1:43-44 ESV
[43] The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” [44] Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
It has been said that Philip was most likely a follower of John the Baptist. We could then produce the hypothesis that Philip might have previously met Jesus through John before, though there is no evidence to that thought. In my mind I see Jesus walking through Galilee and seeing Philip and going up to him and asking him to follow. Jesus was never demanding people to follow Him, they could have said ‘no,’ but each one of them knew in their hearts that this man was different, and each one of them followed Him willingly. We do not know much of Philip, all we know is that Jesus said ‘follow,’ and he did.
Category: The Bible
Following the fourth Wiseman- The calling of the first deciples
The calling of the deciples.
Our traveler walks in disappointed silence. He was sure that he would the Messiah in the nearest city to where the man in the camel skins had been proclaiming about him. Yet, when our Wiseman reached the city he found no one. He searched for days and was left with nothing to shore for his effort. He had then made his way to back to the oasis he had seen the man. From a fair distance he could make him out and someone was with him. A thrill went up the spine of our traveler as he felt in his spirit that this was the man, this was who had been searching for.
All weariness left our traveler as he pulled on his camel and began running toward the people in the distance. A clap of thunder sounded and in terror the camel turned and bolted. Our traveler’s hand was bound in the animal’s tethers and he was dragged behind him away from his Messiah. He screamed and cried in desperation, trying to peel the leather from his hand and return to his King, but it was no use. All he could do was try his best to calm the charging animal and pray that it would not harm him in its panic.
After several hours he returned to only find two men walking past the spot he had seen his Messiah. He asked them where they were going and if they had seen the man in camel hair and the other who was with him.
The two men laughed, “seen them? Of course we’ve seen them, did you not hear what happened?”
Our traveler shook his head and the men sat him down, offered him water and food, and began to tell their story.
They too had seen Jesus baptized.
John 1:35-39 ESV
[35] The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, [36] and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” [37] The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. [38] Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” [39] He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
The men exchanged excited looks, “but that’s not all. We were curious and chose to follow behind a ways. You will not believe what happened next!”
Luke 5:3-11 ESV
[3] Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. [4] And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” [5] And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” [6] And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. [7] They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. [8] But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” [9] For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, [10] and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” [11] And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
Our traveler sat in rapture at the tales the two men shared. So the man he was seeking was gathering an army? To overthrow Rome perhaps? But, why these men? Two followers of a man who liked to live in the wilderness and a set of common fishermen. These were not the men he thought a King would use to begin his army. He shook his head. Who was he to judge who would be a good soldier and who would not. What was important was that the Messiah was there. He was closer now than he had ever been to finally meeting him.
We can never tell why God will permit us to draw close to something we long for only to make us wait. How often have we been our traveler? Longing to reach out and touch our vision only to be pulled away by something else?
When our traveler sees Jesus from a distance and all his weariness fades away and he begins to run to Him, that is how I see heaven. We finally reach the finish line. We are weary from the fight to survive this world. Then we see Jesus. All the pain, sadness and fear leaves our bodies and we run, we run with everything we have in us and He lifts us up, spins us around and holds us tight as we laugh together. The road is simply what we walk until we reach Jesus face to face. It can be hard and it can hurt, but in the end, paradise.
Following the fourth Wiseman- Waiting on prophecies
Luke 1:7, 11-17 ESV
[7] But they had no child because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
[11] And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. [12] And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. [13] But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. [14] And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, [15] for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or a strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. [16] And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, [17] and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
Before the dove and the voice of God. Before the imprisonment. Before the beheading. There was a prophecy. John fully fulfilled the prophecy of the angel. We have prophecies in the Bible we are still waiting to be fulfilled. We are still waiting for the day when they come to pass. In the waiting we, like Zachariah, may doubt the word of the Lord. But we must not doubt. Not because God will strike us mute for nine months, but because we are not people who have seen the angels face to face, our doubt can turn into something serious and terrible, we can turn away from God. It’s hard not to doubt when a prayer is a long time in being answered, or a prophecy seems to be impossible, but that is why we have faith. We choose to trust. We choose to not believe the lies in our head and the lies of those around us. We hold to faith. We wait on the prophecies of Jesus returning for us. We wait and watch and hope, knowing that the same God who fulfilled the impossible prophecies of the past, will also fulfill the prophecies of the future. Our Wiseman we follow this lent season is searching after a prophecy, one he has searched after for thirty years. Yet, he refuses to give up, because he knows in his heart that he is searching for life, for truth, for the King, for the Messiah, for Jesus.
Lent journey. Following the fourth Wiseman
Think of the story of the fourth Wiseman. The one who did not get there in time. He never saw Jesus as a child. He never got to give his present. He got there in time to stand at the foot of the cross. Sometimes, just because you are lost, does not mean you are out of God’s will or plan.
This set of weeks leading up to Easter we are going to take a little creative licence and join the fourth Wiseman. We will be with him as he hears and learns about each pinnacle event and as he tries so hard to finally meet his Messiah.
Beginning:
The sound of the breeze through the sand as it whispers across the shoreline. Our traveler has walked many miles in search of the King. The years have stretched. His clothes have worn. His body and his camel have grown tired. Yet as he draws water for the animal to drink, probably for the hundredth time since his journey began, following a star and finding an empty stable, he hears a whisper.
“Have you heard what he is saying?” One woman asks.
“He’s probably crazy.” Another answers.
A pause. “But what if he isn’t?”
Our traveler turns and wonders if he should break the social norm and ask them what they mean. Then he hears a cry, loud and piercing. The women shake their heads and he knows this cry has something to do with their conversation. He leads his camel through the deserted streets and finds a small huddle around an oasis. There in the water stands a man, water streaming from him, eyes full of fire and laughter. He is baptizing people. But not in the way or name that our traveler has heard before. No. He is using a new authority, and at the sound of the name Our traveler shivers with excitement.
John 1:19-23 ESV
[19] And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” [20] He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” [21] And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” [22] So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” [23] He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
And so it begins. John was the voice crying in the wilderness as he prepared people to receive Jesus. God had previously ordained John for this time and purpose. When Jesus’s ministry began, people were already starting to feel it coming, the knowledge that the Messiah was on His way and was not as far off as people thought previously. Not every ear would hear. Not every heart was ready. But many who heard believed and were ready for Jesus to come.
Packing for the road part 1
Acts 17:28-31 ESV
[28] for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ [29] Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. [30] The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, [31] because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
There are so many these days who want to jump in and claim that every tiny thing is a sign of the end. In fact there have been signs of the end off and on since Jesus died, was it not Paul who said that we are now living in the last days?
We can be afraid of what we see around us or we can look to God and His word. Petra has a song called last days. They say in it, that the last days are the final craze. It’s so true. These days we have had are crazy. It feels like people are losing their common sense let alone their sanity. When walking through the valley it can be easy to look at the crooked trees and the shadows. But if you look too long you will find that you have wandered off the path after them and now you are trapped. Don’t worry. The good shepherd has had lots of practice pulling his sheep from bramble. When these days come we need to focus on Jesus and only Him. He is the light that will guide us.
You will need five things to get you to the other side of the valley. Think of this as your ‘what to bring’ list for the road.
First you will need a map.
You will hear many people and preachers tell you things that sound true, yet the only way to know if they are truly true is to listen to God Himself. Take everything you hear and test it against the Bible.
I love my Bible. It has a nice big concordance in the back where I can look up every scripture on most topics. If I hear something I need clarity on, or something that just doesn’t sound right, I reach for my Bible and find the answers God gave us. The walk can be long and everything can begin to look the same, but a good map will show you the right way. You look at it and see the trees, mountains, rivers. You can tell by the landmarks which way to follow and what to avoid. God has always been the greatest cartographer, He has given us a map that does not simply show us where to go, but also how to get there. There is no fastest route on this map, it will be a long journey, life usually is, but you will get to your destination. When you get there you will not hear, “you have arrived.” You will hear, “well done good and faithful servant.”
Don’t forget to pack your map.
Standing in the storm?
Sometimes, you have to go through the rain to see the blessings. Sometimes, you have to fish all night before Jesus tells you to throw your nets on the other side. Then after He has been in the tomb for three days and you are out on the water all night once again, with your faith wounded and your hearts broken and a man on the shore tells you to throw your nets one more time, and you know it’s Jesus, so you fling yourself over the side of the boat, knowing that you can walk on the water of He is with you. You grab Him and cry.
Sometimes, God will remind you of your first act of faith when you are in your hardest moments, so you remember how He answered you.
John 21:4-7 ESV
[4] Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. [5] Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” [6] He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. [7] That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.
Luke 5:3-7 ESV
[3] Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. [4] And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” [5] And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” [6] And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. [7] They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.
Sometimes we go through the pains of a suffering we do not understand and we never truly see the reason. Sometimes we suffer and then see what God created through it. Sometimes our blessings cause our suffering. Sometimes our struggles do. But no matter what causes the pain, God has a purpose and will save you. No matter how you feel in the moment, don’t forget, ever, that God is good. He will never cause anything to happen to you that He does not plan to bring you out of, and many times He will bring something great of you.
Perhaps you will not become the deciple upon which God builds His church, like Peter.
Perhaps you will not be upright and righteous beyond any other in the Land, like Job.
But God, will bring you out and bring something great out of you!
Trust Him! He is always on your side.
Blessing too heavy
We often refer to Jesus as being in the boat and not letting the boat sink. In reference to the time when Jesus was asleep in the back of the boat during the big storm.
However, there is another painting involving Jesus and a boat.
When Jesus caused the nets of the disciples to fill to overflowing. In that instance, Jesus being in the boat (or at least close by) kept the boat from sinking from the blessings, not the storm. My mom often says do not allow your blessings to become your burdens. The fact is, our blessings are sometimes more than we can handle, and we feel like we are going to sink. When Jesus is in our boat, he will never permit us to sink. Even if we feel we are sinking from blessings, Jesus knows what our blessings entail. He knows the effort that has to go into them. When Jesus filled the nets of the disciples, he knew that there was help close by to help Peter and Andrew pull the fish in because they were afraid that the fish we’re going to capsize the boat. It is easy for your blessings to become burdens due to the simple fact that blessings don’t come without effort. There’s always something you have to put into them. But Jesus is there in the boat with you and he will help guide you. He will not let the boat roll over. He will get you through, and once you can finally haul your blessings in, you will rejoice at what God has done.
I’ve got my own giants
I’ve got my own giants.
We had a pastor who used to say that you need to get out of only praying for yourself. But that’s hard. We pray for other people’s problems, but we become distracted by our own problems. Our giants are big too.
We worry over ourselves because we are on the frontline of our own lives. We don’t feel what others feel, but we definitely feel what we feel. Then, one day, a person goes through what you have been through, and you pray harder for that person than for any of the others because you understand. You have met their giants, and you know how awful they are. Sometimes, God let’s us go through things so we are prepared from the battle to help others with their battle. Perhaps God knows that we have the strength to endure with only Him, and the person we will meet will need a physical hand to hold. It’s what is grown in the battle that makes us who we are. But we get to choose if anything grows. Do we turn to binge watching TV? I know I do more than I should. Do we turn to friends? What is your escape plan for when the fight comes?
It is when we turn to Jesus that we grow. When we say, “I’m fighting through this because God is on my side!”
We say that you can do anything you put your mind to, but the fact is no, you can’t. There are things you can not do on your own. But there is nothing that God can not do. It’s when you give the battle to Him and follow behind His sword and shield that you see victory. We have our own giants. But don’t go saying that your sling and stone won the fight because you were a great shot. Or because you had better technology than the dead champion who had won countless battles and most likely met fighters as good as you and sling shots as fast and powerful. When you walk away from the fight, know it’s because God walked with you into the fight. Your giants are big. But your God is bigger.
How many times
How many times has God heard me say, “I can’t go on! I am so scared.”? More times than most who know me would imagine. Fear is such a constant thing in this life. Recently, my dog started stress chewing his feet. They are raw, and I have to stop him when I see him doing this. Why does he do this? Because we have had anxiety in our household, and he reacts with a stress release. The thing is, if we don’t turn to God when fear or anxiety hits, we will turn to something else. It might be harmless like chocolate or something dangerous to our health or spiritual health. To turn to Jesus means to face the fear head on, and none of us want to do that. To give it to God means to talk about it with Him, it means letting Him know how we feel and that involves acknowledging those feelings. If we don’t turn to Jesus, we will fall into a dark place. Turning to Jesus is turning toward the light. So many things stress us out and scare us. Exams, a scary boss, a health problem, financial issues. Go ahead, Add to that list, I’m sure there are plenty are more that could be brought up. There was an old song, I believe Andrea Crouche wrote it, it said ‘give them all to Jesus. Shattered dreams, ruined hearts, broken toys. Give them all to Jesus and He will turn your sorrow into joy.’ It hurts and scares us sometimes, just going through this life, but the answer is not to find a paw to chew, we need to turn to Jesus and let Him show us the answers that He has planned.
I feel…. but.. it’s Christmas
Dear friends. Christmas is a time when we feel all the feels, and I mean ALL! We feel happy and sad and stressed and at peace because Christmas reminds us of what we love and who we have lost over the years. Just now, I almost cried because an image of a dog came onto my phone, and it was one of my Nana’s favorite breeds, and suddenly, I missed her. Why am I saying this? Because it’s okay to feel. Feel all of it and then let it go. The thing that makes that tangible and important is making sure that you don’t feel alone. Feel those feelings with Jesus. Rest in His embrace and let Him heal you. Panic comes, but Jesus calms the storms. Pain happens, but our Lord is healer. We have lost… sometimes more than we can bear, but God has prepared a home in Heaven. We feel peace at Christmas because the light of the world came. His angel said, “Fear not.” Jesus said, “peace I leave with you.” Why? Because He knew who we are. It hurts sometimes. We see no light at the end of the tunnel. But God. It will always be Jesus who shows us the way. We may think we cannot do it. But all things are possible through Him. Don’t feel guilty about having all the Feelings at Christmas. Just make sure you leave those feelings in the hands of the Messiah.
Carried in the cross 