Get ready to start a journey…a journey through the pages of the Bible and the pages of your life.
After finishing his last supper with the disciples, Jesus went to Gethsemane, an olive grove on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives. This is where Jesus often met with his disciples (John 18:2), but this time was different. Jesus knew that very night, he would be arrested, tried, and crucified on the cross. He was there to pray.
Jesus was the Son of God (fully God) and the Son of Man (fully man). In being man, he lost none of his deity; in being God, he lived in full humanity. These truths make Jesus the only One who could die for humanity’s sin. He was sinless—the only One who did not have to pay for his own sins; he was man—the only One who could die as our sinless substitute.
Jesus and his disciples were in the area of Caesarea Philippi when he asked them what people were saying about him. What was the word on the street? The disciples told him that some believed he was John the Baptist; others said he was Elijah, and still others thought that he was Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Then Jesus asked the most important question:
David was a mighty warrior who conquered the enemies of Israel. He was a great king who led Israel into peace and security. So it is with Jesus, the Son of David. Born of human lineage, Jesus was fully man and fully God.
After Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, he headed north to the area of Galilee and established his headquarters in Capernaum, a city by the sea. One day, Jesus was walking on the shore and invited a tax collector named Matthew to follow him. Matthew left his tax booth to follow Jesus.
Have you been to a doctor’s office lately? It is not filled with people who are well. The healthy have no need for corrective lenses, antibiotics, heart medication, cancer treatments, hearing aids, or surgery. As Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician.” But when vision becomes blurry, the infection won’t go away, chest pains come, and concerning symptoms occur, you head to a doctor right away.
Have you ever considered God to be as distant as the stars he created? Have you ever felt God to be a stern disciplinarian ready to punish you when you say something you shouldn’t say or do something you shouldn’t do? If you believe God is out of reach, then reconsider the Person named Jesus.
Jesus came to earth when the Jewish people were living under the rule of Rome. They longed for a military and political leader to deliver them. They were looking for one who would restore their country to the prestige and power it had known in the days of King David and his son, Solomon.
Do you know anyone named Daniel? The name Daniel means “God has judged” or “God is my judge.” In the Old Testament, there is a man named Daniel, and his vision about seeing God as the judge of the whole world is recorded in Daniel 7:9-10; here’s what the prophet saw.
Wherever you go, God is there. The theologian A. W. Tozer wrote, “God is everywhere here, close to everything, next to everyone.” In his classic work on the attributes of God, Stephen Charnock called this God’s “essential presence.”
Righteousness. We use that word often, but what does it mean? This is a rich theological word that describes who God is and what he does. Let’s take time to make sure we understand it.
Hope is the spiritual anchor for the soul. Hopelessness leads to despair. Hope pushes us toward joy and peace. Biblical hope is not a wish or a desire expressed in a statement like, “I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow.” Hope in God produces certainty and confidence because it is based in the Person of God.