The words above are the response of John the Baptist when he saw Jesus.

Sin is a recurring behavior for every human being. This is because you live with an inner condition which is in rebellion to God and there is no way to get rid of it.

God is holy and wants nothing to do with you. The only hope is in Christ Jesus. He understands the frailty of humanity. He sees everything inside you both the good and the bad.

Jesus died to forgive your sins and make you clean before Him but unfortunately we just keep getting dirty. This behavior was repeated by the Israelites time and time again and eventually caused them to be scattered among foreign nations.

This condition became so serious and repulsive to God that He wiped out all humanity except for eight souls. The primary culprit was sexual immorality which is rampant today.

God knows you can never attain His standards of holiness. But He provided a solution which cost Jesus his life. And, Jesus was perfect and did not deserve this punishment.

Jesus was obedient to God and died on the Cross. This horrific death was very good for you and me.

If you are a believer Jesus promises to forgive all your sins and restore you to God. He is also with you for the long run and knows you will stumble at times.

Jesus has sealed you with the Holy Spirit. He is the life of Christ. The Holy Spirit will convict you of sin and keep you on a pathway with Jesus.

Most believers stumble because they do not listen consistently to the voice of Christ. They stray away from the Holy Spirit to live with fleshly motives.

God cannot be treated like an on and off water faucet. You must be alive in the Spirit at all times and operating under His authority. This will protect you from evil and the consequences of sin.

Where sin abounds the grace (love) of God abounds more. Live in the work of the Cross and you can please Jesus.

The definition of a good Shepherd is someone who will lay down his life for the sheep.

The hireling works for his wages and cares about His own needs above the sheep. He is not invested into caring for the future of the sheep or willing to lose his own life for the sake of the sheep.

The good shepherd knows every detail about each one of his sheep. He knows them better than they know themselves. The sheep recognize the voice of the shepherd and will not respond or trust any other voice.

The wolf is Satan who is disguised as a shepherd. He desires to steal, kill and destroy the sheep.

The hireling will not stand in the gap and fight for the lives of the sheep. He will flee to save his own life.

The good Shepherd has perfect motives and cares deeply for his flock. He wants to protect the sheep from evil. The good Shepherd gave up his life so the sheep can live with Him forever.

There is only one flock and one shepherd. All others are false imitations. He is Jesus the Christ!

The thread leading up to the miracle of Jesus feeding five thousand took place in the Old Testament. God provided manna from heaven for the Israelites on their journey to the Promised Land.

Jesus fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish. Afterwards Jesus said “For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

The Israelites responded “Lord, give us this bread always.” Notice the Israelites were more interested in the bread than the promise of life.

Jesus replied “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”

Then Jesus said you have seen Me and yet do not believe.

Jesus ends the dialogue with these words “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Jesus is speaking about an abundant and everlasting life but the Israelites want the promise of the bread.

The next day Jesus walked on water to get to the other side of the lake.

The Israelites and some of the followers found Jesus and asked Him “Rabbi when did you get here?”

Jesus avoided their question and said “Assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.”

The whole point of this conversation is believers are reminded to labor for the food which does not perish but leads to eternal life.

God has set His seal on Jesus and the bread of life is the gift of salvation.

This text deals with your motives in seeking Jesus. Is your priority the gift or the giver?

Jesus is the giver and promises the gift of salvation. The bread of life is the source of salvation and the life of Jesus.

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.

We need to let go of the idea of doing things for Christ and understand what it means to be a captive in Christ.

In your spiritual journey, Jesus will lead you into the role of a captive for His purposes. You probably won’t be confined in jail but you will feel very isolated.

This happens because God wants to use you to bring a triumph to His glory. As a captive you participate with intercession and prayer for the priorities of Christ.

Believers like to do a litany of works to feel good and to please God. The revelation from the Holy Spirit is God doesn’t want your works. He wants to set you aside to labor for His purposes.

As a captive for Christ you will be very close to Jesus and enveloped in His purity and glory. In this role you are very valuable to God because you have no motive other than to please Jesus. The world and your self interests can’t muddy up the picture.

The Holy Spirit will guide you into prayer and intercession to set people free and save souls. He is always at work to bring glory to Jesus.

Intercession is filling up your flesh with the afflictions of Christ for His Body the church. The goal is to bring down strongholds and break the power of Satan.

You and I lack the ability to pray like Jesus. Humanistic prayers will get you nowhere! Learn to be silent and yield to the Holy Spirit. He will take you into the gutters of life with groanings to deep to understand.

The victories will come as Jesus spreads the aroma of His life saving knowledge around the world. You may not see all the fruit of your efforts as it is mostly hidden in Christ.

Pray in harmony with the Holy Spirit and Jesus will shake the earth and heavens to bring honor to His name!

Every human being has a worldly citizenship based on where they were born or passing the requirements to become a new citizen of another country.

If you are a follower of Jesus your citizenship is in heaven and you are entitled to all the promises of God. You cannot claim your heavenly citizenship until Jesus comes back to gather His church or your life on earth comes to an end.

While you are waiting, Jesus is a work to transform your earthly body to conform to the glory of God. This is God’s eternal plan to subdue all things which are in heaven and earth to Jesus.

The Christ follower is a stranger on the earth during His journey to the kingdom of God. You were not designed by God to find the righteousness or peace of Jesus on the earth. Your enemy is the world which is under the control and influence of Satan.

The Christ follower can never fit into the world which is the antithesis of God. The believer must develop the mindset that “He who is in Me is greater than he who is in the world.”

The Holy Spirit is your precursor of Heaven and safety net until you reach your final destination.

You can overcome the world through prayer, Bible study, and listening for the voice of God.

Learn to praise God for who He is!

God is greatness, power, glory, victory and majesty. Everything in the heaven and earth is under His dominion. He is exalted as the head over all.

Most importantly, give the Holy Spirit authority over your life and train your mind to be conscious of His voice at all times. The world will disappoint you. God is your only hope for an abundant life.

Jesus is a very personal God. He shares His life and attributes with faithful believers until they reach their heavenly destination.

This subject is about the truth behind the nativity scene.

Jesus was born on Christmas for one reason. He would die for all sins and offer human beings the gift of eternal life. The death of Jesus allows all to be restored to God.

What is the value of Jesus?

Jesus despises religion. He wants a personal and embracing relationship without the requirements of keeping laws, doing works to appease Him or immersing yourself in religion.

Jesus is alive and wants be in all the moments of your life. He does this by the work of the Holy Spirit. If you are a believer God has sealed you with the Holy Spirit. He is the life of Christ and the source of all the attributes of Jesus. He gives you the mind of Christ and the ability to hear His voice

The blood of Christ covers all your sins so you can stand blameless before God. The Holy Spirit convicts you of sin and the need for correction.

The Christ follower is not immune from the trials of life. In fact, you might encounter more difficulties than a non believer.

There is no guarantee of good times but there is a promise of living with Jesus forever.

The gift of salvation entitles you to the love, joy, peace, strength, wisdom and protection of Jesus without limitations.

Jesus is a healing God. The miracles of healing did not stop in the Bible. They are taking place today all over the world.

Salvation allows you to walk in oneness with Jesus and avoid the evils of the world.

Jesus tests believers. He creates adversities and asks you to walk by faith.

The righteousness of Jesus comes to you by faith. You have been “sold under sin” and have no method of escape. No one is ever right with God except through Jesus.

What does Jesus want from you in return for the gift of salvation?

The answer is simple. Jesus wants you to seek His will for your life above all else. And, He wants you to walk by faith not by what you see with your eyes.

You seek the will of God through prayer, Bible study, and listening for His voice. This should be a consistent practice in your life.

Jesus is omniscient and sees everything in your future. So it is very important to submit to the authority of the Holy Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit to be a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your pathway.

God also wants your obedience to His voice without compromise or wavering. Loyalty is very important to Jesus and is a measurement of your faith.

Christmas is a celebration of the life of Jesus in a believer. And, the holiday is an opportunity for a stranger to meet Jesus and become a new person free from the bondage of sin.

Ask Jesus today to prove His credentials? You will not be disappointed!

Merry Christmas!

This narrative has been inspired by my own life and the words of the Holy Spirit.

The subject is about seeking the giver not the gift.

In the darkest moments of life can you worship and treasure Jesus for who He is?

The Cross causes you to identify with the pain and suffering of Jesus. He felt abandoned by His Father.

Jesus faithfully worshipped God in the darkness moments of His life. He did not run away or speak flippantly to God. Jesus lost His humanity and ability to exist on the earth.

The agony of the Cross touches all believers. It is painful and heart wrenching. It is a test to determine if you are after the gift or the giver.

It is easy to worship Jesus in good times. He seems like such a loving and good God. But when the Cross comes and God is harsh or cruel most believers attempt to escape. Who wants to worship Jesus when all hope is lost and you are surrounded by despair?

The outcome of living through the torture of the Cross is accepting Jesus for who He is. The deep work of God seems like unjust punishment but after the testing when you look in the mirror you will see the character of Christ.

If you are serious about Christ He will take you on a journey to the Cross. You and I are self driven human beings with big egos to satisfy. Jesus has no ego and exists to satisfy His Father.

The Cross has an everlasting purpose but the results are hidden from your eyes.

In the deepest moments of the Cross pray for the blood of Christ to cover you and for God to give you the strength and endurance to get through the day.

Jesus knows exactly how you feel. He has been through the same experience!

The word from God today is desultory referring to someone who is lacking a purpose or enthusiasm. In the context of God this individual has a half hearted attitude without strong convictions about God.

If you are a believer, everything starts with God. Your priority is to diligently seek the will of God above all else. All your goals and desires become subservient to Jesus.

The purpose of a believer is to yield to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to transform you into the character of Jesus. This is not for your benefit but to make you a powerful light for Jesus.

How to achieve a passion for Christ?

This is not about immersing yourself in religion or trying to evangelize the world.

The most important objective is to develop a personal and vibrant relationship with the Living Christ. This happens when you zealously seek God through prayer, Bible study and listening for the voice of God. Walk with Jesus under the authority of the Holy Spirit.

Learn to live in the reality of Christ not religion. This is a game changer to experiencing a powerful spiritual life. Jesus becomes alive in all the moments of your life.

It is not what you do that impresses God, it is your heart attitude and desire to be obedient to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He wants all of you without compromise!

This subject is very important to anyone who wants to be a powerful witness for Jesus.

Many churches do not honor or respect the gifts of the Holy Spirit and claim they are no longer valid because of the life and ministry of Jesus. This is heresy and an insult to Jesus.

As a believer, the Holy Spirit begins a process to make you “Christ Like” with His core values. You will never be perfect but you can be equipped and anointed by the Holy Spirit to do the powerful works of Christ.

The love, wisdom and mercy of God will determine your role in the Body of Christ. Jesus knows you better than you know yourself. He will determine the perfect ministry for you along with the spiritual gifts.

We are instructed to be humble people without boasting in our position in the Body of Christ. Act with humility and demonstrate the measure of faith which God has given to you.

The Body of Christ has millions of members all with different functions and roles.

The Holy Spirit equips believers with gifts like word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophesy, discerning of spirits, speaking in tongues, and interpretation of tongues. Jesus operated with all these gifts. The gifts draw people to the reality of Christ and change lives.

There are also gifts of ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, and mercy.

God calls some believers to be an intercessor. Many times this is related to a biblical office. The gift of intercession is entering into the war between light and darkness. The Holy Spirit works through the believer to bring down strongholds and set people free.

Sometimes, God will give you several of these gifts or a diversity of the gifts. So think outside the box. There are no rules. God looks at your personality, strengths, and weaknesses in designing your role in the Body.

The Holy Spirit chooses some believers to serve in a biblical office. The offices include apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. The purpose is for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.

If you are selected to one of these high offices you will experience calamities, pain and suffering.

The gifts and biblical offices cannot be influenced or controlled by a believer. You can ask God to equip you with a gift or an office but the ultimate decision is up to Him.

God measures a believer by his faith, obedience and commitment to Jesus in selecting a role in the Body of Christ.

Enoch diligently seeked the presence of God. The Lord was so impressed with Enoch that He took him to heaven without experiencing death.

What does it look like to walk with God?

Most Christians spend private time with God in the morning and on Sunday at church.

Immersing yourself in the presence of God is a rich experience but the life span is short.

The goal is to never leave the presence of God. However, most believers check out at times and go about their responsibilities on their own.

The Holy Spirit calls this shadow boxing. You call yourself a believer but you don’t act like one. This is where a believer gets in trouble because he is living out of his natural life and is not connected to God through the Holy Spirit.

Walking with God has several spiritual distinctions.

The Christ follower lives by faith not by what he sees with his eyes. He seeks out God for his every need.

He gives the Holy Spirit authority over his life and asks God to fill Him with the thoughts of Jesus. He experiences the order of God in his life.

He understands his frailties and is open to the conviction and correction of God. He lives under the cover of the blood of Jesus.

He is obedient to God without questioning His judgement or motives.

He seeks the will of God through prayer and meditates on the Word of God.

Walking with God is living in the gift of salvation and drawing upon God for all your needs.