John 1:1-28, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Need to Call Home?

The plane arrived late and folks were mad. I got off the plane with a cramp in my leg, an empty stomach, a bad attitude and three more hours of travel to go. I skipped lunch and called home. Denalyn answered.  She's always glad when I call. We made no decisions. We solved no problems. We just talked and I felt better. I can handle being a pilgrim as long as I know that I can call home whenever I want.
Maybe that's the rationale behind Matthew 14:19. "Taking the five loaves and two fish, Jesus gave thanks." Jesus was surrounded by people who wanted food and disciples who wanted a break.  He needed a minute with someone who would understand. He needed to call home. Maybe you should call home, too.  God will be glad when you do-but not half as glad as you will be!
From In the Eye of the Storm

John 1:1-28

The Life-Light

The Word was first,
    the Word present to God,
    God present to the Word.
The Word was God,
    in readiness for God from day one.

3-5
Everything was created through him;
    nothing—not one thing!—
    came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
    and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
    the darkness couldn’t put it out.

6-8 There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light.

9-13
The Life-Light was the real thing:
    Every person entering Life
    he brings into Light.
He was in the world,
    the world was there through him,
    and yet the world didn’t even notice.
He came to his own people,
    but they didn’t want him.
But whoever did want him,
    who believed he was who he claimed
    and would do what he said,
He made to be their true selves,
    their child-of-God selves.
These are the God-begotten,
    not blood-begotten,
    not flesh-begotten,
    not sex-begotten.

14
The Word became flesh and blood,
    and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
    the one-of-a-kind glory,
    like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
    true from start to finish.

15 John pointed him out and called, “This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word.”

16-18
We all live off his generous abundance,
    gift after gift after gift.
We got the basics from Moses,
    and then this exuberant giving and receiving,
This endless knowing and understanding—
    all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.
No one has ever seen God,
    not so much as a glimpse.
This one-of-a-kind God-Expression,
    who exists at the very heart of the Father,
    has made him plain as day.
Thunder in the Desert

19-20 When Jews from Jerusalem sent a group of priests and officials to ask John who he was, he was completely honest. He didn’t evade the question. He told the plain truth: “I am not the Messiah.”

21 They pressed him, “Who, then? Elijah?”

“I am not.”

“The Prophet?”

“No.”

22 Exasperated, they said, “Who, then? We need an answer for those who sent us. Tell us something—anything!—about yourself.”

23 “I’m thunder in the desert: ‘Make the road straight for God!’ I’m doing what the prophet Isaiah preached.”

24-25 Those sent to question him were from the Pharisee party. Now they had a question of their own: “If you’re neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet, why do you baptize?”

26-27 John answered, “I only baptize using water. A person you don’t recognize has taken his stand in your midst. He comes after me, but he is not in second place to me. I’m not even worthy to hold his coat for him.”

28 These conversations took place in Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing at the time.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Sunday, August 07, 2022

Today's Scripture
Isaiah 40:28–31

Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening?

God doesn’t come and go. God lasts.

He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine.

He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath.

And he knows everything, inside and out.

He energizes those who get tired,

gives fresh strength to dropouts.

For even young people tire and drop out,

young folk in their prime stumble and fall.

But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.

They spread their wings and soar like eagles,

They run and don’t get tired,

they walk and don’t lag behind.

Insight

The people of the Bible repeatedly found strength through their relationship with God. In Exodus, after the Israelites miraculously crossed the Red Sea, Moses sang, “The Lord is my strength and my defense” (15:2). When David’s men talked of stoning him, he “found strength in the Lord his God” (1 Samuel 30:6). Later, after God delivered him from Saul, David declared, “It is God who arms me with strength” (2 Samuel 22:33; see Psalm 18:32). Likewise, Asaph proclaimed, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26). The prophet Isaiah declared, “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense” (Isaiah 12:2). We too can find strength in God, who assures us, “Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you” (41:10).

By: Alyson Kieda

Strength to Let Go

[The everlasting God] will not grow tired or weary.
Isaiah 40:28

Once known as the World’s Strongest Man, American weightlifter Paul Anderson set a world record at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, despite a severe inner-ear infection and a 103-degree fever. Falling behind frontrunners, his only chance for a gold medal was to set a new Olympic record in his last event. His first two attempts failed badly.

So, the burly athlete did what even the weakest among us can do. He called on God for extra strength, letting go of his own. As he later said, “It wasn’t making a bargain. I needed help.” With his final lift, he hoisted 413.5 pounds (187.5 kg) over his head.

Paul, the apostle of Christ, wrote, “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). Paul was speaking of spiritual strength, but he knew that God’s power was “made perfect in weakness” (v. 9).

As the prophet Isaiah declared, “[The Lord] gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak” (Isaiah 40:29).

What was the path to such strength? Abiding in Jesus. “Apart from me you can do nothing,” He said (John 15:5). As weightlifter Anderson often said, “If the strongest man in the world can’t get through one day without the power of Jesus Christ—where does that leave you?” To find out, we can release our dependence on our own illusive strength, asking God for His strong and prevailing help. By:  Patricia Raybon

Reflect & Pray

When you depend on God’s strength, and not your own, what’s the outcome? How does abiding in Jesus give you strength?

All-powerful God, my life’s burdens feel heavy and overwhelming, but abiding in You gives me Your strength to carry on and overcome.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, August 07, 2022

Prayer in the Father’s House

…they found Him in the temple….And He said to them, "…Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?" —Luke 2:46, 49

Our Lord’s childhood was not immaturity waiting to grow into manhood— His childhood is an eternal fact. Am I a holy, innocent child of God as a result of my identification with my Lord and Savior? Do I look at my life as being in my Father’s house? Is the Son of God living in His Father’s house within me?

The only abiding reality is God Himself, and His order comes to me moment by moment. Am I continually in touch with the reality of God, or do I pray only when things have gone wrong— when there is some disturbance in my life? I must learn to identify myself closely with my Lord in ways of holy fellowship and oneness that some of us have not yet even begun to learn. “…I must be about My Father’s business”— and I must learn to live every moment of my life in my Father’s house.

Think about your own circumstances. Are you so closely identified with the Lord’s life that you are simply a child of God, continually talking to Him and realizing that everything comes from His hands? Is the eternal Child in you living in His Father’s house? Is the grace of His ministering life being worked out through you in your home, your business, and in your circle of friends? Have you been wondering why you are going through certain circumstances? In fact, it is not that you have to go through them. It is because of your relationship with the Son of God who comes, through the providential will of His Father, into your life. You must allow Him to have His way with you, staying in perfect oneness with Him.

The life of your Lord is to become your vital, simple life, and the way He worked and lived among people while here on earth must be the way He works and lives in you.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

To live a life alone with God does not mean that we live it apart from everyone else. The connection between godly men and women and those associated with them is continually revealed in the Bible, e.g., 1 Timothy 4:10.  Not Knowing Whither, 867 L

Bible in a Year: Psalms 72-73; Romans 9:1-15