Tag: Bible Study

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Fence Post Devotional “The Gospel of John Cowboy Style”

“So John told ‘em, ‘I baptize in  water, but there is a Fella who stands amongst us that y’all ain’t met yet. I ain’t even worthy to unbuckle His spurs off His boots for Him’” John 1:26-27 (“The Gospel of John Cowboy Style”).

John the Baptist was one tough dude. He had lived his entire life (at this time he was about 30-years old) in the wilderness. His clothing was rough and rugged, certainly not store-bought and his diet consisted of locust and wild honey. He probably is best compared to a tough-as-nails-wrangler who rode tall in the saddle and could shoot the head off a rattler at thirty paces.

But ol’ John had a tender side. He loved God and lived his whole life for Him. In fact when God got ready to send His only Son to the world to preach the Gospel, He sent for John and told him to introduce Him to all the folks around. And that’s exactly what John did. He even started getting them ready by preaching a message of repentance and baptizing those who repented in the Jordan River (that’s how he got his nickname of Baptist).

Now, John had his own following of disciples. And he couldn’t wait for them to get to know Jesus. So one day when they were all together, he saw Jesus walking nearby. John got all excited, pointed toward Him and just plain yelled it out, “Look yonder! The very Lamb of God Himself!” John 1:36 (“The Gospel of John Cowboy Style”).

John’s job of introducing Jesus to the folks around there was pretty important. But he knew that Jesus had a more important job to do; in fact was the very savior of the world. So, John told his disciples that when he lined himself up next to Jesus, he didn’t feel worthy enough to even pull off Jesus’ boots or to unbuckle his spurs.

You know, Jesus has called all of us to do a pretty important job, too, to tell folks about Him. But when we see His goodness and His holiness next to ours, well I guess we begin to feel pretty much like ol’ John did. All we can do is bow our heads and cry Holy! Holy! And one day “cast our crowns at His feet” Revelation 4:10.

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Fence Post Devotional “Gospel of John Cowboy Style”

“Before time was ever started, Jesus was there. Jesus was with God and Jesus was surely God. Before ever any woods or prairies or herds, He was there. At the very first rodeo when the chute opened He was right there with God” John 1:1-2

How long has Jesus existed? Well, the down-home honest truth is, Jesus has always existed. Even before the beginning of time, before anything else, before any planets or stars or moons or galaxies, Jesus was already there!

And besides that, He has always been with God. In fact, He and God are One. There was a time when Philip, one of Jesus’ disciples asked Jesus to show him the Father. Jesus answered Philip, “Son, if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9).

And the Apostle Paul, talking about Jesus said, “He is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15) . . . “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in boldly form” (Colossians 2:9).

Isn’t that something, that God loves us so much that He actually revealed Himself to us in the person of His own dear Son. How can anyone possibly refuse such love and sacrifice as that?

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What is the Purpose of the Church?

What is God’s Purpose of the Church? Is it a place of worship? Is it a place of Christian fellowship? Is it a place where believers can be strengthened and equipped for the work of ministry? Is its purpose to make disciples and evangelize a lost world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Yes, to all the above and lots more, too.

One of our daughters attended a Christian university in Illinois. On one of her school breaks she asked my input about an assignment given by one of her professors: “Define the Purpose of the Church”. We spent considerable time over her school-break discussing and debating possible answers. We came up with two main ideas:

  1. To carry out the Great Commission given by Christ; i.e., to carry the gospel to a lost world.
  2. To serve as a place of worship and to equip the saints for ministry.

Maybe it depends upon one’s doctrinal and theological views and Biblical interpretations to insightfully answer that question. If one’s view of the Continue reading “What is the Purpose of the Church?”

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He’ll Do to Ride the River With

“He’ll Do To Ride The River With” In the days of the old West, that was the highest compliment one cowboy could give another: “Here is a man you can depend on . . . A fellow you can count on . . . A guy you can trust! . . . A man who has your back!

In fact, when that is said about another, nothing else needs to be said. It speaks of his character, his integrity, his honor.

I’m not sure where that saying came from, but I assume it came from the days of the long trail drives when drovers were pushing cattle to railheads in places like Abilene, Dodge City, Wichita and Cheyenne. It was hard and hazardous work with long hours in the saddle. To survive the cowboys had Continue reading “He’ll Do to Ride the River With”

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Time Alone with our Heavenly Father

Have you noticed the number of times the Gospel writers mentioned Jesus slipping away so He could be alone with His Father?

• After feeding the 5000— Matthew 14:23.
• Before appointing the twelve apostles— Luke 6:12.
• Jesus’ withdrew “to the mountain by himself alone”— John 6:15.
• The High Priestly Payer of Jesus— John 17.

It strikes me that if Jesus needed those times to be alone with His Father, then it certainly behooves us with our human frailties to daily seek out those times too.

If you don’t already have a scheduled time to be alone with the Father, then Continue reading “Time Alone with our Heavenly Father”