Four Days, Five Guys

The first 14 verses are very pretty abstract, but explain so much about God, Jesus, and what His coming does for us.

Jesus is "the Word". He was with God, God was with Him, and at the same time Jesus was God.

I heard a guy preach this past week about verse 5. It says, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." I love this verse because at times in my life when things are crazy, difficult, and not making sense, it's in the darkness that the light shines. God is in the character building business, and he often uses the dark times to do his work.

My bible has a note about verse 12: "Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" At issue: acceptance If you've never faced extreme rejection in your life, you may not grasp just how powerful this verse is. For those who struggle with feeling accepted by others, the idea that Jesus reveives anyone who comes to him - without first making demands on the person or trying to change them - is mind boggling. Not to mention extremely appealing.

There is so much more in these first 14 verses, so please give me your thoughts!

DAY 1 - John is testifying about the coming Jesus as the messiah. The 'church leaders' are wanting to know who John 'thinks' he is, so they ask. John's answer is great: "I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, "make straight the way for the Lord." "I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie."

DAY 2 - John spots Jesus and identifies him as the messiah.

DAY 3 - John spots him again, and two of John's followers leave John and follow Jesus, Andrew and someone else (it doesn't way right now who it is, but I'll try to figure it out). Andrew's brother, Peter, was taking care of the fishing business, and Andrew went to find him to tell him about Jesus.

DAY 4 - Jesus leaves for Galilee and calls Philip to follow him. Philip was from the same town as Andrew and Peter. Philip told Nathanael about Jesus, and Nathanael followed Jesus too. That brings the group to 5. "Mystery man," Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathanael.

Next: Party time!

A walk through the Book of John

I decided to read through the book of John and I wanted to share some thoughts along the way. Please feel free to leave your thoughts as well. My Bible has some introductory information about the Book of John, and I'm going to include it here.

Author: John, the apostle, the son of Zebedee and the brother of James (not James the brother of Jesus)
Audience: John probably wrote with Gentile (non-Jewish) readers in mind, particularly those influenced by the Greek philosophies prevalent at the time
Date: Probably AD 85-90
Setting: Scholars have traditionally assumed that John's eyewitness account was the last Gospel written, sometime before John was exciled to the island of Patmos.
Key Verse: "But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." John 20:31
Central Theme: John's Gospel is not just a record of Jesus' life; it is a powerful argument that Jesus is the heaven-sent Son of God and the only way to have eternal life. Believe and be saved!