King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and Friend of Friends

King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and Friend of Friends

Scripture Reading: Romans 5:1-11

Focus Verse: Romans 5:8  “But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”

My granddaughter, Aviya, was born on December 2nd.  Her name in Hebrew means "God is my Father.”  We know her birthday and plan to celebrate it when it comes around again. I don’t know exactly what day Jesus was born, but we like to celebrate His birth on December 25th.  I love the month of December leading up to Christmas.  We have special services at church.  We get a Christmas tree and put lights on it.  We put up the nativity display.  We sing the Christmas carols. These are all things we don’t forget.  In fact I can remember many things we did at Christmas time when I was just a little boy many years ago.

Christmas is special to me because when Jesus came to earth it was the most important event to ever happen in human history.  Have you wondered why Jesus would leave all the comforts of Heaven to come to earth?  It’s because He loves us and wants to be with us.  The God who created you, the whole universe and everything we see, loves you and wants to have a relationship with you. In fact, He desires to even be your best friend as you walk with Him.  He planned the way for it to happen because sin separates us from God. But God, in human form, came to this earth as a baby.  Because of mercy and grace, He came to die in our place for our sins so that we can choose to surrender to Him and inherit this forgiveness and have a relationship with Him.  

 

Jesus doesn’t just want to be one of your friends, He wants to be your best friend.  He will never leave you or forsake you.  He will be there for you in your good times, and when things are not going well.   Jesus said in John 15:14 “You are my friends if you do what I command.”  So if you’re not doing what Jesus says you should be doing, then maybe you can repent, trust Him and ask Him to help you walk with Him in obedience.  Let’s keep Jesus as our best friend. 

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

Jesus Came Near

 Jesus Came Near

Scripture Reading:  Luke 2

Focus Verse: Luke 2:11 “The Savior yes, the Messiah, the Lord has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!”

Luke 2 tells us how it came about that Jesus came and was born.  We can learn many events that happened around that event and it was like nothing that had ever happened before!  Some people think that God is "somewhere out there", but He is everywhere and He is here.  He came in the flesh as was planned from the beginning because of love. God wanted to give an opportunity for a restored relationship with Him and sent His "Only Begotten Son", to accomplish this.  Jesus came near.  It affected everyone from the lowly shepherds to the majestic wise men.  We rejoice!

 

Every year in December I set up a nativity scene in front of our home so it can be seen from the road when people pass by.  It has different figures such as the shepherds, wise men, and angel, Joseph and Mary, some sheep, a donkey, some chickens, and of course the Baby Jesus in the manger.  One year something unusual happened, someone stole the Baby Jesus.  They took Him right out of the manger.  It was just a plastic baby.  Can someone take Jesus from you?

 

Once you have been born again, nobody can really take Jesus away from you, not even Satan. We can’t lose Jesus, but sometimes people get so busy at Christmas time they lose sight of Jesus.  We need to keep Jesus in our thoughts, meditating on Him and praying with Him. One reason is that we may have opportunity to share the real meaning of Christmas with someone who needs to hear about Christ's love for us.  Jesus came to this earth because He loved us so much that He was willing to take the punishment for our sins and die for us.  So when God looks at us he no longer sees our sin, but He sees the righteousness of His Son Jesus.  Let us not forget that Christmas time is when Jesus came near.  He wants to live in your heart.  He wants to make you a new person.  Surrender to Him today if you never have.

*see the photo of the nativity.

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

 

Willing and Rejoicing

Bible Reading: Luke 1

Focus verse:  "Mary responded,“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.    How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!  For he took notice of his lowly servant girl" Luke 1: 46-48a

Mary was betrothed to Joseph which means that there was a plan and a promise to be married.  I imagine that Mary had been planning of her wedding and the life that she would have as a wife of Joseph.  They had not yet married and she was a virgin, untouched by man, when Mary's life was interrupted.  It was not a small interruption but a major one.  Angel Gabriel came to Mary to tell her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and that Mary would conceive and give birth to a son and name him Jesus.  He will be a holy Son and be called the Son of God.  

Mary could not understand how all this could happen, so the Angel explained that it would be through the power of the Most High.  He reminded Mary that even Elizabeth became pregnant in old age after she had been barren and that the word of God will never fail.  Mary responded with submission to the Lord as a servant and welcomed God's word into her life.  Then, after a visit with Elizabeth, she gave a great cry of praise to the Lord and rejoices in God her Savior.  She proclaimed God's holiness, mercy, might, provision and that He remembered Israel and His promise that Abraham and his children would be remembered with mercy.

When God brings a change in your life, you may be tempted to look at how your life was wrecked, your plans have changed, you have lost your dreams and your own path.  Or would we dare to submit to the Lord as Mary did, to recognize that we are a lowly servant and that God's change is a mercy and a blessing on us.  God isn't going to ask you to raise the Son of God, for that has already been done, but he may ask you to do something different than what you had planned.  It may not exalt you, but it may keep you humbled.  Mary didn't have it so good by earthly standards.  Mary got pregnant before marriage and it looked scandalous, she risked being stoned or divorce.  She gave birth in an animal shelter, she loved and raised Jesus and then watched him die the worst death a man could die, on the cross.  As a mother, she suffered, but as a servant, she was blessed.  She was willing and rejoicing in God.  Let us be humbly willing and rejoice in God as we accept the mercy and direction for our lives for His glory.

Page Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

The Time is Now

The Time is Now

Devotion by Greg Laurie

But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.

—Galatians 4:4–5

The birth of Jesus Christ divided human time. Rome had established control over much of the world at this point. The Pax Romana, a period of peace during the Roman Empire, was a time of brutal peace. The Romans cared most about two things: submission to Rome and a steady flow of wealth into Roman coffers.

But with the absence of war, many people were rediscovering art, literature, and philosophy, and they were asking questions. They were talking about human destiny and the meaning of life.

“When the right time came,” the Bible says, “God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children” (Galatians 4:4–5 NLT).

Caesar Augustus thought he was a powerful man, and he was, but he also was a pawn in the hand of God Almighty. That’s because history is His story. Thus, God moved Augustus to accomplish His purposes, reminding us that God is in control. He is sovereign over all nations and over all people.

The Bible says, “The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he guides it wherever he pleases” (Proverbs 21:1 NLT). God can move the heart of a king, queen, prime minister, president, senator, congressman, or CEO. God will accomplish His purposes.

Augustus thought that by ordering a census, he would have greater control over the world. But in the end, all he did was run an errand for God.

The Lord needed Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem because Scripture prophesied, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf” (Micah 5:2 NLT).

Joseph and Mary made the ninety-mile journey to Bethlehem for the census that Augustus decreed. We like to imagine scenes of Joseph and Mary silhouetted against a full moon on such a beautiful night. But the reality is that it was a very difficult and dangerous journey, especially for a woman in the ninth month of her pregnancy.

You would have hoped the hardships would have ended when they finally arrived in Bethlehem. But the Bible says, “There was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7 NKJV). This doesn’t vilify the innkeeper (if there was indeed an innkeeper); it simply presents him for who he was: a man who was preoccupied and busy. You would have thought he could have found it in his heart to make room for a woman who was ready to give birth at any moment. But he sent Joseph and Mary to a barn, or more likely a cave, where the Savior of the world was born.

There are people today who are just like this innkeeper. They don’t have any time in their lives for God. But we had better make room for Him. As the Christmas hymn “Joy to the World” reminds us, “Let every heart prepare Him room.” Make time for Him today.

 

https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/no-time-for-god/

He Was Born To Die

 He Was Born To Die

Scripture Reading:  Matthew 1:18-25

Focus Verse:  Matthew 1:21  “And she will have a Son, and you are to name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

It’s hard to believe but I am now a grandfather.  I have one granddaughter born about a year ago, and another granddaughter on the way, as well as a grandson on the way.  What a great blessing this is for our family.  When a new baby is born it’s a very happy time. It’s hard to think about the day they will die.  That’s just not something that we want to think about.

I’m sure that death was not something Joseph and Mary were thinking about the night baby Jesus was born.  But the main reason Jesus left the comforts of Heaven to come to the earth was to die.  His death was not a normal death, but an atoning death and a temporary one.  Atoning: The only way we could be saved from our sins is if someone died a sacrificial death in our place.  Only one person could die such a death.  Jesus was the only person qualified for such a death because He had never sinned.  He didn’t deserve to die for us but did so willingly.  John 3:16 says, “For this is how God loved the world, He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” 

 

Have you believed in Him?  Have you accepted this gift of salvation?  Jesus knew when He came from Heaven to earth He was coming to die.  Then he was alive three days later! So as we celebrate the birth of Jesus this Christmas season let’s not forget the love that God has for us that He would send His only Son to die for us so we can live eternally with our risen Savior in Heaven.

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

Human or Spirit Led?

 Scripture Reading: Galatians 5:13-26

Focus verse: "As for you, my friends, you were called to be free. But do not let this freedom become an excuse for letting your physical desires control you. Instead, let love make you serve one another." Galatians 5:13

Jesus called to me and I said, "Yes, Lord".  I began to follow Him and was set free from my sins.  He made me into a new creation, a new "me" that lives with His Spirit in me.  I found the fruits of the Holy Spirit nature coming into my life.  But sometimes, the human, selfish nature comes out in front and I fail.

In my freedom, I do not give excuses for following my own selfish desires.  I need to realize that my human nature will lie to me and so will the enemy.  My human nature will lead me astray and will not honor God.  My human nature will lead me to greed, anger, jealousy, selfish ambition, fighting, gossip and separation from other believers.  If I follow my human nature long enough, I can become blinded by it and fall deeper into sin.  I will blame others and make excuses for my decisions and actions.  I will not even see the pit that I am in, until suddenly, God makes it clear.

I need to decide every day to love God first.  This will give me what I need to love, forgive and serve others.  This is what the Spirit produces:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.  Is this what my life looks like?  You can not follow selfish human desires and the Spirit at the same time.

Every day is a good day to examine your life.  Do you see the fruits of human nature or the fruits of Spirit nature?  Commit to spend some time in prayer today about anything that you need to change in your life.  Ask God to show you how He sees your life.  Allow Him to change your heart so that you can change any actions that need to come under the Spirit's control.

~Page Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Showing Others Our Faith

Showing Others Our Faith

Scripture Reading: Matthew 8:28-34

Focus Verse: Matthew 8:28 “When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gadarenes, two men who were possessed by demons met him. They came out of the tombs and were so violent that no one could go through that area.”

It may surprise you but Satan and his demons know more about God than many people do.  An atheist is someone who doesn’t believe in the existence of God.  Satan is not an atheist, he knows very well in the existence of God.  The two men in the scripture were possessed by demons and were so violent that no one could go through that area.  Their actions showed what was on the inside.

 

I can understand how violent a demon possessed person can be.  On my last trip to Kenya I had just preached a message in a church when a woman began acting very violent because of a demon inside her.  It took three men to control her, to keep her from injuring someone in the church.  We prayed that she would be delivered from this evil spirit.

 

The demons in our scripture reading also recognize that  Jesus is the Son of God in verse 29.  Satan and his demons do not trust in God, but they hate God and people created in God’s image.  James 2:19 says “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.”  The demons acknowledge this is true, but don’t believe in it.  In a similar way, people can believe that God exists and that Jesus is the Son of God, but it has no effect on the way they live.  Why? Because they have never surrendered to receive Christ into their lives.  

 

James 2 also says in verses 20 and 26  “Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.”  Our actions show what is on the inside.  If we are going to tell everyone we have faith in God, then let our lives show it by the way we live.  A believer's life, surrendered, will be empowered by faith to live for Christ through good works.

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries