Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from the group, The McCraes, singing … He Knows My Name … poignantly singing of how, in God’s omniscience, He knows EVERYTHING about each of us.
==============
Highlight Verse[s]: John 1:48-49[NLT] … 48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. … Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; You are the king of Israel.”
… Jesus shows Nathaniel Whom He really is … i.e., the Son of God.
==============
Highlight Passage [context]: John 1:43-51 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus calls Phillip and Nathaniel to be His Disciples.
==============
Reference Passage : … Isaiah 43:1 [NLT] … 1 But now, this is what the Lord says — He who created you, Jacob, … He who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
… God, showing Israel that He had claimed them to be His own.
Reference Passage : … Isaiah 53:6 [NLT] … 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
… God, as our Good Shepherd, knows and loves us all enough to take our waywardness on Himself.
Reference Passage : … John 10:14-15 [NLT] … 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.
… Jesus declares that as a shepherd knows his sheep, so He, our Good Shepherd, knows us, and was willing to die for His flock.
Reference Passage : … John 15:14-16 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus calls those His FRIENDS who obey Him and follow Him as He commanded in Luke 9:23.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Adam Holz, uses a personal reflection to illustrate how how God knows us intimately and perfectly, … yes, even so much better than a loving parent knows his/her child. And the ODB author wrote: “Dad, what time is it?” my son asked from the back seat. “It’s 5:30.” I knew exactly what he’d say next. “No, it’s 5:28!” I watched his face light up. Gotcha! his beaming smile said. I felt delight too—the kind that comes from knowing your child the way only a parent can.
Like any attentive parent, I know my children. I know how they’ll respond when I wake them up. I know what they’ll want in their lunches. I know countless interests, desires, and preferences. But for all that, I’ll never know them perfectly, inside and out, the way our Lord knows us.
Isaiah, in Is. 43:1 and 53:6, prophesied that God knew Israel before time began and God claimed that they were His own, … even like a shepherd would die for His flock. And when Jesus came to call His disciples (passages from John above), He showed them that He knew them … like a shepherd knows his own flock … perfectly … intimately … completely.
And if we know Him as Lord and Savior, even tho we are wayward lambs, we will know Him, trust Him, and follow Him as our Good Shepherd. As Christians, we are His sheep. Do we know Him as our Good Shepherd; and are we following Him?
=============
My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for knowing me (us) by name.
=============
My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here can, and will, join me to follow You as our Good Shepherd. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
No comments:
Post a Comment