John 10:39-41 (KJV) The Truth About Jesus

John 10:39-41 (KJV) 

Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,
And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode.
And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true.

When the Jews once again took up stones to kill Jesus, the Bible says He escaped and that He specifically returned to the place where John baptized. Multitudes had come to hear John, to be baptized by him, and to look for the “Lamb of God that taketh the away the sin of the world.” These few years later and Jesus took them back to the very place His ministry had its beginning. It had its desired effect. Those who came to the place began to reflect upon the ministry of John the Baptist and the differences between him and the Lord.

John made no name for himself.

• He wasn’t after a reputation
• John did no miracle
• He wasn’t flashy or impressive in any way

John spoke the truth about Jesus.

Right here is the key to a Christ-honoring ministry. It isn’t about how well received we become or how well respected our views on the matters of life are. The only thing of consequence is that what we say about Jesus is true. 

I’m watching with interest all the speculation about the COVID-19 vaccines. The country is rapidly pushing toward making it mandatory that we receive it. Opinions fly in every direction. There are radically diverse opinions even among doctors and medical professionals. Christians likewise have taken positions that are as diverse as the so-called authorities they follow. Preachers, who get too wrapped up in the subject, I think, are not wise. One I listened to spent one and a half hours saying basically, “I don’t know. Make up your own mind.” 

As for preachers, I doubt that we can get away without saying anything on these subjects. However, I am sure that the only thing that might redeem us for the petty criticisms against our views is if those who hear us can say, “All He says about Jesus is true.” 

They may disagree with us about everything else. Let’s just be sure what we say about Jesus is true.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
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John 10:39-41 (KJV) The Truth About Jesus

1 Chronicles 5:18 (KJV) The Price is Vigilance

1 Chronicles 5:18 (KJV)

The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skilful in war, were four and forty thousand seven hundred and threescore, that went out to the war.

Though the players are Reuben, Gad, and one-half of Manasseh, the war this passage involves is not that one that resulted in their possession of the land on the other side of the Jordan River. As with the Promised Land, this property would have to be maintained.

Vigilance would be the price of keeping what they had won. And so, they had prepared men for the task. Men ready to go out to war.

The laws of thermodynamics tell us that, over time, the things of this earth decay. 

Those things are materials such as homes, vehicles, even the clothing on our backs. 
Somebody must maintain them. They must be repaired and sometimes replaced. We are in a battle with time for the sake of our things.

The same may be said of relationships. 
Things such as friendships, partnerships, even a marriage relationship must be maintained. If left to themselves, if not purposefully kept up and looked after, they fall into such a state they may be lost.

And so it is with our bodies. 
Time is the enemy of this mortal flesh. We can maintain it for a time, and we should. The fact is that, sooner or later, time will win this one. It becomes critical that a person realizes this and defeats the enemy of death through Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:54 (KJV)
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
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1 Chronicles 5:18 (KJV) The Price is Vigilance

John 8:25 (KJV) Ask Him!

John 8:25 (KJV)

Then said they unto him, Who art thou? And Jesus saith unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning.

The question of who Jesus is was a constant one. 

• The people speculated 
• His family doubted
• The Pharisees challenged
• The disciples (Peter at least) declared it

Beginning to end, times of popularity, and times of pressure and persecution, Jesus remained consistent. He said He was the same as He said from the beginning. 

If you were to ask Jesus today (go ahead, He does hear, and He does answer), He would say the same thing. 

• Years have not changed who He is
• Culture has not changed who He is
• Science has not changed who He is

Ask Him! He is even today the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. 

Ask Him, and He too will take away your sin. 

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
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John 8:25 (KJV) Ask Him!

John 7:10 (KJV) That’ll Be Enough

John 7:10 (KJV)

But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.

I think another word to describe Jesus’ strategy here would be discretion. Some people believe the only way to promote faith is forcefulness. Notice in the context, those who encouraged that were not actual believers. 

First, Jesus did not go with the crowd. 
This group of family and friends would have wanted to make a scene. However, Jesus was not interested in doing something extravagant. 

Second, Jesus did go to Jerusalem 
He was not fearful. He simply wasn’t interested in being pushed by an unbelieving crowd, even if they did call themselves brethren. 

Third, Jesus taught in the Temple
He went to the house of the Lord to give the Word of God. He did not let the threats of others prevent Him from doing what was the right thing before His Father. 

Finally, Jesus preached boldly 
There is a difference between boldness and audacity. Jesus didn’t make a scene or draw attention through loud acts. He was simply where He should be, and He preached the truth. 

That’ll always be enough. 

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
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John 7:10 (KJV) That’ll Be Enough

John 6:27 (KJV) Christ Alone

John 6:27 (KJV)

Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

The first thing the crowd asked was what work they must do. Jesus told them that all they must do is believe on Him. They then switched it around to ask what work He had done. 

I am confident in the work Christ has done. 

• 
  
  His death on the cross
• His burial for our sins and not His own
• His resurrection three days later and
• His continuing work in praying for us

I am confident. 

My labor today then must not be for earthly things but for spiritual. My goal is Christ alone. My burden is to know Him, hear Him, see Him. 

Lord, help me be true to this work. And as I do this, Lord, give us souls who long to be true to the same. 

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

John 6:27 (KJV) Christ Alone

John 5:44 (KJV) When We Cannot Believe

John 5:44 (KJV)

How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?

Now here is a serious warning from our Lord. 
Jesus said in John 3:18 (KJV)
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Believing on Jesus is the difference between justification or condemnation. And yet, if we seek to receive honor one of another, we cannot believe. 

It is a wall too many never scale. Anxious for salvation, so many will embrace Christianity. But they assume a sort of Christianity that is “Christianity approved.” The inherent danger is that a soul never comes truly to Jesus alone in this sort of faith. 

And coming short of Christ, they come short of salvation. 

They are condemned already 

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
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John 5:44 (KJV) When We Cannot Believe

John 4:5 (KJV) Jesus’ Presence Restores

John 4:5 (KJV)

Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

The study of the Word of God, and the submission to hearing others preach God’s Word, is such a blessing to the heart of the believer. 

Not many days ago now I heard a preacher[1] reference this place and how Omri, the wicked king of the northern kingdom, purchased it from Shemer and named it Samaria. Jacob gave it to Joseph. Joshua gave it, I believe, to the tribe of Joseph’s son, Ephraim. Omri purchased it from a man named Shemer (there is no reference to his family or to how he came about to possess it). Samaria, along with the entire northern kingdom, was defeated by the Assyrians, leaving the land to strangers and vagabonds. By the time of Jesus, it was considered shameful for the Jew to even travel through the place.

See how Jesus’ presence restores the place to prominence, 

• Reaching this fallen woman at the well, then 
• Reaching many of the people of the city, and finally 
• Establishing Samaria as a place where the Holy Spirit filled believers

Acts 8:14-17 (KJV)
Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:
Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:
(For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

---

[1] Kyle McMillan at the Washington Independent Baptist Fellowship held August 2021 at Templo Bautista in Yakima, WA.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

John 4:5 (KJV) Jesus’ Presence Restores

2 Kings 23:6 (KJV) A Child’s Grave

2 Kings 23:6 (KJV)

And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.

While I would not call it an agreement, I would say that Bible students have a consensus that “the graves of the children of the people” is a reference to those children that had been sacrificed to the gods whose idols Josiah was now burning to powder. 

It’s intriguing to me to think that those same people who sacrificed their children cared enough to then bury them. It is truly an inordinate affection that will kill a child you love for devotion to an idol the living God has called an abomination. Man’s hatred of the True God motivates the grossest of deeds. 

I think right now of the parent who, claiming to love their children, effectively sacrifices them to the gods of this world. 

• Refusing to trust the Lord as Saviour. 
• Rejecting His Word as the source of life direction. 
• Hating the very idea of surrendering to God

they turn their children over to the prince of the power of the air. 

And then they grieve when that sacrifice costs them their child’s life. 

Or worse. 

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

2 Kings 23:6 (KJV) A Child’s Grave

John 2:11 (KJV) Believing In or On Jesus?

John 2:11 (KJV)

This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

Notice the progression of people at the wedding
There was a crowd
We do not know how many, but it was substantial. The crowd knew Jesus was there. They enjoyed the water He turned to wine. But they did not come under any spiritual influence because of Him. 

There were His disciples 
These were those following Him. They had left everything to learn what Jesus, this teacher, could offer. They were learners but not yet fully leaning upon Him. 

The disciples there believed on Him

This, I believe, is in contrast to those “many” in verse twenty-three who believed in Him. It is one thing to know who Jesus is and to believe it. It is something entirely different to believe on Him and trust Him as Saviour and Lord. 

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

John 2:11 (KJV) Believing In or On Jesus?