Tag Archives: jesus the messiah

Uncategorized

Our Daily Bread — The Best Life

Leave a comment

 

John 1:35-42

[Andrew] first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah.” —John 1:41

A few months ago, I had to travel to Florida and back on business. On my flight home, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had a seat with lots of leg room. It felt so good not to be scrunched into a small area. Plus, I had an empty seat beside me! The makings of a good nap.

Then I remembered those around me in their not-as-comfortable seats. I invited several others I knew to join me in a better spot but was surprised they all wanted to stay in their own seats for various reasons: They didn’t want to be inconvenienced with a move or felt fine where they were.

As believers in Christ, we have a much more significant invitation to extend: We’ve received a new life of faith in Jesus and want others to experience it too. Some will want to do so, and others won’t. In John 1:40 we read that Andrew had begun to follow Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and invite him to meet Jesus, the Messiah, too (v.41). Jesus offered them a wonderful new way of life of knowing Him and enjoying His promises: His forgiveness (Rom. 3:24), continual presence (Heb. 13:5), hope (Rom. 15:13), peace (John 14:27), and a forever future in His presence (1 Thess. 4:17).

Won’t you join in? Jesus gives the best life. —Anne Cetas

If we commit ourselves to Christ

And follow in His way,

He’ll give us life that satisfies

With purpose for each day. —Sper

 

If you want someone to know what Christ will do for him, let him see what Christ has done for you.

 

Uncategorized

The Message of the Manger – Charles Stanley

Leave a comment

 

Luke 2:1-7

Sometimes it is difficult to see how God can bring good from our bad situations. But He draws value from even the most disastrous of circumstances, such as when the conquering Romans (the bad) literally paved the road for the gospel (the good).

Before the rise of Rome, the predominant world power was Greece, whose attractive culture led many to desire Hellenization. In addition, as Alexander the Great conquered lands, he forced subjugated men to serve in his military. So they could understand orders, he made conscripts learn common Greek. On discharge, these men took the new language home, thereby helping to create a shared tongue between people groups. This was the perfect set-up for spreading the revolutionary message that would erupt from Israel a few centuries later.

The Romans paved roads throughout the territories they had conquered and then guarded land routes and seacoasts from encroaching enemies. Doing this ensured the relative safety of early Christian missionaries who carried the gospel.

Perhaps Joseph and Mary traveled one of those roads on their trek from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Whether they did or not, God again turned hardship—a forced census—into blessing: Jesus the Messiah was born at precisely the time and place prophesied.

From the moment in Eden when Satan’s defeat was promised until the instant Christ fulfilled that prophecy on the cross, the Father continually brought good from bad situations. He was advancing His plan to save the world. The Romans made the roads, but God paved the way for a Savior.