Verse of the Day 5/5

Through the Bible - 1 Kings 13-14, Luke 24:36=52

 

Good morning,

In today's New Testament reading outlined above we finish the book of Luke.  Jesus has risen from the dead and we find Him walking along the road to Emmaus telling, "expounding" to the two travellers in all of the Scriptures "the things concerning Himself".  What that must have been like.  I always enjoy reading their response once Jesus vanished from their presence.

 

Luke 24:32 And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"

 

Tomorrow's reading will bring us into the book of John.  My prayer for you is that you'd read along and that as you do your "heart would burn within" you as Jesus is revealed to you, whether for the first time or in a greater way.

For today's verse we'll go to John 20 where we have a verse that tells us of John's purpose in writing the book.

 

John 20:30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
NKJV

John Piper notes that "he (John) meant that he was writing to awaken faith in unbelievers and to sustain faith in believers, and in that way lead both to eternal life.  And there may be no better book in the Bible to help you keep on trusting and treasuring Christ above all.".

He continues, "this is a book about the life and the work of the man Jesus Christ, the man John knew and saw and heard and touched with his hands."

 

The book focuses on the person and work of Jesus Christ, centering around the words, "signs", "believe", and "life" all pointing to salvation that is available through Him.  (John 14:6).

 

In closing, read the following verses also written by John, explaining what he and the other disciples had seen in Jesus "the infinite Life of God Himself" right before their eyes.

 

1 John 1:1 From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in — we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we're telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us. -  The Message

In Christ,
Mike
mikevw@bellsouth.net
More tools available at: http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV

John 20:24-21:1

 

Seeing and Believing

 

24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord."

 

So he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."

 

26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you!"  27 Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing."

 

28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"

 

29 Jesus said to him,  "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

 

That You May Believe

 

30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.    NKJV