SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
1/2/2020 10:35 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “The Man”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 3:1
Message of the
verse: “1
Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,”
We want to say that everything about
John the Baptist was unique and it was also amazing. Think about his sudden public appearance, his
lifestyle, his message, and the fact that he came baptizing, something that in the
past for Israel was only to be done to those outside the Jewish faith that came
into it, but now he was baptizing for the repentance of sins. John the Baptist was also humble. We also know that he was a prophet, the last
of what we could say were from the Old Testament prophets even though he did
this after the birth of the Messiah. He
forsook his earthly father’s ministry for the sake of his heavenly
Father’s. After he spent most of his
time in the desert God then called him at the right moment and spoke to his
heart, which began his ministry.
We see that his place of ministry
was “in the wilderness of Judea.” John
was calling the King, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, and when you think of
it this was not done in the usual way.
Jesus came to earth as a very humble Man and not as a King, but that
will happen in His next coming. This was
the way that God planned things, and He made John the Baptist a part of that
plan.
We will conclude this SD with the
quotation of John MacArthur’s last paragraph in this section: “All of that, however, was not incidental or
circumstantial. It was symbolic of
John’s ministry to call the people away from the corrupt and dead religious
system of their day—away from ritualism, worldliness, hypocrisy, and
superficiality. John called them away
from Jerusalem and Jericho, away from the cities into the ‘wilderness’—where
most people would not bother to go if they were not serious seekers. John brought them away, where they were freer
to listen, think, and ponder, without the distractions and the misleading
leaders they were so accustomed to following.
In such a seemingly desolate place, they could begin to see the
greatness of this man of God and the even greater greatness of the One whose
coming he announced.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life: I suppose that
I do not think as much as I should about the greatness of John the
Baptist. He truly was a great man, a
different kind of man, nevertheless a great man as he did what the Lord called
him to do, something I desire to do too.
My Steps of Faith for Today: It is my
desire to have joy in the journey of my study of Scripture this year of 2020.
I have to say
that our family has been on a hectic schedule trying to get ready for the
services for my father-in-law and so perhaps there may be a day or two that I
miss doing my Spiritual Diaries. I hope
that is not the case, but it could be.
Quotation from
“Love in Action” comes from Psalm 46:1-3; 10,11.
God is our refuge and
strength,
a very present help in
trouble. Therefore
we will not fear, even
though the earth be removed,
and though the mountains
be carried into the midst of
the sea; though its waters
roar and be troubled, though, though
the mountains shake with
its swelling (Psalm 46:1-3). Be still,
and know that I am God; I
will be exalted among
the nations, I will be
exalted in the earth! The
Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob
is our refuge (Psalm
46:10, 11).
1/2/2020 11:02
PM
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