MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/28/2026 9:15 AM
My
Worship Time Focus:
PT-2
“John’s Personal Character”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Luke 1:15
Message of the verse: “For he will be great in the sight of the
Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy
Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.”
I continue from where I left off in last evening’s SD. MacArthur writes “John’s outward consecration
would flow from his inner spiritual empowerment in an unparalleled way. Gabriel promised that he [would] be filled
with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.” Now I am getting to the part that I have
had a difficult time understanding
this portion of this verse. MacArthur
goes on: “From conception, John’s entire life would be lived under the
influence, control, and power of the Holy Spirit, dominated by His
will. That will, of course, is
specifically described and expressed in the Word of God (Ps. 119:105; 2 Tim.
3:16).”
(Ps. 119:105; 2 Tim. 3:16)
“105 ¶ Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to
my path.”
“16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness,”
“The
filling of the Spirit is essential for sanctification (1 Cor. 6:11; 2 Thess.
2:13; 1 Peter 1:2), and effective ministry (Acts 1:8).”
(1 Cor. 6:11; 2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Peter
1:2)
“11 And such were some of you. But you were
washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
“13 ¶ But we ought always to give thanks to God for
you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to
be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.”
“2 according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and
for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.”
(Acts 1:8)
“8 But you will receive power when the Holy
Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all
Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’”
“In the
case of John the Baptist, the Spirit’s work in his life began while he was yet
in his mother’s womb. Luke 1:41
illustrates that reality, noting that ‘when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the baby [John] leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy
Spirit.’ (The Spirit’s filling of John in the womb clearly indicates that
the fetus is a person and that life begins at conception. That argues strongly for the sanctity of life
and against abortion [cf. Exodus 21:22-25; Psalm 139:13-16]).
([cf. Exodus 21:22-25; Psalm 139:13-16])
“22 ¶ "When men strive together and hit a
pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one
who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him,
and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 But if there is harm, then you shall pay life
for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth,
hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn
for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”
“13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me
together in my mother’s womb. 14 I
praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame
was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in
the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw
my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days
that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
“John’s being set apart by God while
still in his mother’s womb is reminiscent of Jeremiah, who wrote concerning his
own calling, ‘The word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Before I formed you
in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have
appointed you a prophet to the nations’’ (Jer. 1:4-5). That was also true of Paul, who
testified, ‘God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called
me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might
preach Him among the Gentiles (Gal. 1:15-16).
Those verses underscore God’s sovereign choice of His servants to salvation,
sanctification, and service (cf. John 15:16).”
(cf. John 15:16)
“16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and
appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should
abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”
I felt it necessary to quote this
section from John MacArthur’s commentary because of the great importance that
it had. I also felt it necessary to quote
all of the verses in his commentary for the same reason.
Spiritual
Meaning for My Life today:
Be continually filled with the Holy Spirit.
My
Steps of Faith for Today:
“19 Do not quench the Spirit.” (1Thessalonians
5:19.)
2/28/2026
9:44 AM
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