John 1 Today's Daily Bread w/ Comments

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God Bless You Today, Lena B

John 1
Christ, the Eternal Word

1In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn't make. 4Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone. 5The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.
6God sent John the Baptist 7to tell everyone about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8John himself was not the light; he was only a witness to the light. 9The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was going to come into the world.
10But although the world was made through him, the world didn't recognize him when he came. 11Even in his own land and among his own people, he was not accepted. 12But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13They are reborn! This is not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan—this rebirth comes from God.
14So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. F1 And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.
15John pointed him out to the people. He shouted to the crowds, "This is the one I was talking about when I said, 'Someone is coming who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before I did.'"
16We have all benefited from the rich blessings he brought to us—one gracious blessing after another. F2 17For the law was given through Moses; God's unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God. But his only Son, who is himself God, F3 is near to the Father's heart; he has told us about him.
The Testimony of John the Baptist
19This was the testimony of John when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Temple assistants F4 from Jerusalem to ask John whether he claimed to be the Messiah. 20He flatly denied it. "I am not the Messiah," he said.
21"Well then, who are you?" they asked. "Are you Elijah?" "No," he replied. "Are you the Prophet?" F5 "No."
22"Then who are you? Tell us, so we can give an answer to those who sent us. What do you have to say about yourself?"
23John replied in the words of Isaiah:
"I am a voice shouting in the wilderness,
'Prepare a straight pathway for the Lord's coming!'" F6
24Then those who were sent by the Pharisees 25asked him, "If you aren't the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet, what right do you have to baptize?"
26John told them, "I baptize with F7 water, but right here in the crowd is someone you do not know, 27who will soon begin his ministry. I am not even worthy to be his slave. F8 " 28This incident took place at Bethany, a village east of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing.
Jesus, the Lamb of God
29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30He is the one I was talking about when I said, 'Soon a man is coming who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before I did.' 31I didn't know he was the one, but I have been baptizing with water in order to point him out to Israel."
32Then John said, "I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. 33I didn't know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, 'When you see the Holy Spirit descending and resting upon someone, he is the one you are looking for. He is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' 34I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the Son of God. F9 "
The First Disciples
35The following day, John was again standing with two of his disciples. 36As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and then declared, "Look! There is the Lamb of God!" 37Then John's two disciples turned and followed Jesus.
38Jesus looked around and saw them following. "What do you want?" he asked them. They replied, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?"
39"Come and see," he said. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon when they went with him to the place, and they stayed there the rest of the day.
40Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of these men who had heard what John said and then followed Jesus. 41The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother, Simon, and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means the Christ).
42Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, "You are Simon, the son of John—but you will be called Cephas" (which means Peter F10 ).
43The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Come, be my disciple." 44Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter's hometown.
45Philip went off to look for Nathanael and told him, "We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth."
46"Nazareth!" exclaimed Nathanael. "Can anything good come from there?" "Just come and see for yourself," Philip said.
47As they approached, Jesus said, "Here comes an honest man—a true son of Israel."
48"How do you know about me?" Nathanael asked. And Jesus replied, "I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you."
49Nathanael replied, "Teacher, you are the Son of God—the King of Israel!"
50Jesus asked him, "Do you believe all this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this." 51Then he said, "The truth is, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down upon the Son of Man." F11


FOOTNOTES:
F1: Greek grace and truth; also in 1:17.
F2: Greek grace upon grace.
F3: Some manuscripts read his one and only Son.
F4: Greek and Levites.
F5: See Deut 18:15, 18; Mal 4:5-6.
F6: Isa 40:3.
F7: Or in; also in 1:31, 33.
F8: Greek to untie his sandals.
F9: Some manuscripts read the chosen One of God.
F10: The names Cephas and Peter both mean "rock."
F11: See Gen 28:10-17, the account of Jacob's ladder.

Lena’s Discipleship Journalin’
Think practically about what and how this is saying what it is literally saying. The world was made at the commands of God words. He spoke and it appeared. Out of atmosphere, out of nothing, His eternal ideas were made clear. Words were the creative substance bringing God’s ideas out into a seen realm. Ideas are invisible, until expressed in such a way as to make them visible.
Christ was the substance, the word made visible (fleshed out). He was who moved at the command of the Father. When spoken to, He was assigned to manifest the will of the Creator. He, the executor of the will.
From the very inside of the being of God there was the Son, inside of every Father is a son, the son comes forth from the Father, out form the inner parts, and is made “real”, comes into visible form outside of the idea world, the invisible realm.
Did you not exist inside of your own parents? Were you not inside of them even when they were being formed in their own mother’s womb, which means you were also inside of their mother and fathers? You were an idea at some point, but more than an idea, yes microscopic, but real. One day you were manifested, made to be flesh.
Do you ever tell people of what you do not yet see? You are a trumpet, a mouthpiece for God when you tell what others cannot yet see, you create a world for them with words that someday will be made manifest to them, words that will someday be fleshed out by faith.
The difference between the saved and the unsaved is faith in God and His words, which bring life. To all who will believe and who accept Him, to these He gave rights to be His own children, children of faith, children infused with eternal life.
Has the word become human in you? Yet?
Have you seen Him?
The world needs to hear and know it, be led to see for themselves.
Have you shown Him to the world?
A voice crying……in the wilderness?
What is wilderness? A place where there’s more us than there is acknowledgement of God and of His will. A place where we’re given food, and are fed, rather than getting and giving food for ourselves and others, a place where our enemies are kept away from us, rather than us keeping God’s enemies willfully away. A place of complaints and unthankful ness.
The voice cries, “make way for the Lord”.
In the embrace of the LORD, there is a promised land. The difference between wilderness and Canaan is are we getting ours or is God getting His from us giving it to Him?
Make a way for Jesus to be the Lord, not only the sweet Savior who died for our sins. Enter responsive life, where we give back to God what is due Him, we ask what He’d like done, and no matter how difficult it seems, we use it for the increase of faith and Go do His will. Doers rather than hearers only. We enter the throne room daily in the very face of God, where we with impure motives could be smote, but because we choose responsiveness in faith motivated by love, we live!
What are you saying about yourself, about Him?
Even if you do not use many words, what are you speaking with your life? Does your life lead others to the Lordship of Christ?
Do you recognize Him when He comes? Is He recognizable by others in your life, and daily faith walk?
Has the Holy Spirit found a place to rest in and live in and be able to be used inside of your personal life? Does he have a vessel that yields to doing the will of God no matter what?
“Teacher, where are You staying, I wanna go see where You live; I wanna see living proof that You are alive in my day now. Where might I find that? Where might I see that in living flesh form?”
Is there a place on earth right now in my day I can see that, follow that?
Does anyone say, “Lookie here, He looks like Him.”?
Does anyone follow the lead of another who follows God as Father and Lord?
The world needs Jesus. Yes it does, all over the world it needs Jesus’, ones who became Him by receiving Him. Ones who display Him, by the infilling and indwelling of His Holy Spirit breath of life.
He gave men His spirit, that He would dwell all over the whole earth in different places all at once, we as Christians are reproductions of Him. He was only the firstborn among many brethren. Brethren who are still being birthed, brought forth today. Those being pushed out of the mother church’s spiritual womb, and raised in His and her home. Disciples.
He has seen us, do we look for and at Him in body form, in a many membered body, do we see Him? Show Him? Are we a part of a body being perfected, or have we separated ourselves out to try and look like Him on our own, with our own expression?
Who are you oh man of God, but one man? The body is many, yet one, one alone is just one alone.
Come home to the house of God, the place where a me becomes a we and a we becomes a Him, plurally yet one. This is God’s will.