December 27, 2025

Jesus calls out to Philip, saying, “Follow me.” He was still in Bethsaida, where he found Andrew and Peter. Philip then went to see Nathanael, telling him he had found the one whom Moses wrote about in the law and the prophets, Jesus of Nazareth, but Nathanael was skeptical because Philip said he was from Nazareth. Nathanael knew the scriptures and that they pointed to Jesus coming out of Bethlehem. When Nathanael met Jesus, Jesus clarified the truth about who he was, and that he had found them, not the other way around, as Philip had said, when he pointed out this:

Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. John 1:47-48

Nathanael knew that what Philip had said was true when he said: “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.” 

And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. John 1:51

This verse points to what Jacob saw when he slept with his head on the rock, but what he saw was a ladder. Jesus is that ladder.  I believe that Nathanael was at Jesus’s ascension and that Jesus is pointing out what he would see. Scripture is so on-point, especially when Jesus brings the Old and New Testament scriptures together to prove that he is who he says he is, even without saying it directly. 

December 26, 2025

I knew I was going to miss something in the timeline of Jesus’s steps. To back up a step, I had to go into the Book of John. Andrew, who was Peter's brother, was the first disciple to follow Jesus, along with one other, possibly John the beloved. They were followers of John the Baptist when they came upon Jesus, and John introduced him by saying, "Behold, the Lamb of God. They must have put two and two together from the scriptures because they immediately knew he was the Messiah. Andrew found Peter and told him that they had found the Christ. Andrew brought his brother to Jesus. And when Jesus saw him, he said, "Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas," which is by interpretation, A stone. Jesus already knew who he was. So that we get the order right, the miracle of the fish from yesterday's post came after this initial meeting and after the wedding at Cana, which I will cover in a later post. They asked where he was staying; it was thought that it may have been approaching the Sabbath. Jesus invited them to stay the night with him because it was getting late. 

They heard about Jesus through John the Baptist; Jesus asked them what they sought and invited them to stay with him. Doesn't this sound like the order of salvation? Jesus already knows us; we hear and believe, and he asks us to stay. 

Living in a country whose foundation is rooted in Christ, with seasons like Christmas and Resurrection Day, celebrated in every retail outlet known to man, how could people be so dull that they don't know who Jesus is? They know who he is, but have chosen to ignore him because they like living their promiscuous lifestyle. These people don't want to hear about Jesus; we are obnoxious to them. Don't overstep; they will not submit to him until the Holy Spirit calls them. If you are telling someone the reason for your faith in Jesus and they immediately begin to reject him, walk away, shake the dust off. You may have planted a few seeds, but until they are called, your mission is postponed. 

Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. John 1:38-39

December 25, 2025 JESUS CALLS HIS FIRST DISCIPLES

JESUS CALLS HIS FIRST DISCIPLES 

Being an orderly person, I now realize that not everyone is. The reason I say this is that the writers of the gospels had a specific purpose in how they wrote their accounts of Jesus. They aren’t exactly in chronological order, which I am finding difficult because I’m trying to study the steps of Jesus. If you’re following his footsteps, then it should be in order, shouldn’t it? I may not get this exactly right, but it will be close. When I told you I would be jumping around, I had no idea that it would be this much. 

In the accounts in Matthew and Mark, Jesus calls Peter, Andrew, James, and John to be his disciples, with no explanation of what led them to trust him. My question in those accounts is, why would they leave everything to follow Jesus? Had they already heard his preaching? Why would they trust him? Then, when I read Luke’s account, I realized there was more to it than that. Jesus enters Peter’s boat to preach. The fishermen had been out all night and hadn’t caught anything. While they were cleaning up, Jesus told them to put their nets out again. They were hesitant but complied. They caught so many fish that the nets were breaking. Peter fell to his knees, realizing that he was in the presence of God. And, that, my friends, is why they dropped everything to follow Jesus!

I know these stories, but I’m telling you all of this so that when you study the Gospels, you will cross-reference the other accounts to get a complete picture. Hopefully, this study will help you if you follow along on this challenging journey.

When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. Luke 5:8

And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Matthew 4:19

December 24, 2025

Nazareth was Jesus's hometown. Right before Jesus left there, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath to be a part of the reading of scripture. They knew him because he was always there. They handed the scroll to him, and he read from the Book of Isaiah. It wasn't by chance that what he read pointed to his ministry. The following is what he read:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Luke 4:18-19 and Isaiah 61:1-2

Upon finishing, he added, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." Luke 4:21

Some of the people there discredited him by pointing out that he was Joseph's son. He was a carpenter; how could he be fulfilling scripture? I'm irritated with those people at this point, with second-hand anger over their audacity. Jesus puts them in their place because they will see what he is going to do in other areas by healing the sick, but they themselves won't have the benefit of his power. 

And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. Luke 4:23-24

They ran him out of town and tried to push him off a cliff, but he escaped without harm.

What lesson can we learn from this: Don't be so comfortable with your relationship with Jesus that you forget that he is God. He wants to help set us free from the clutches of the enemy, but we have to acknowledge that he is the only one capable of doing that. If you don't submit to him, you may be saved, but you will live your life encumbered with burdens that you weren't meant to carry. Relinquish all that you are holding onto and let Jesus lift that weight off your back.

December 23, 2025

God introduced Jesus to the world at his baptism when the Holy Spirit came upon him, and there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Mark 1:11) Jesus then faced temptation in the wilderness and put Satan in his place for the time being. Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, so he left for Galilee. 

And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: Matthew 4:13

For anyone who has not accepted that Jesus was part of the Old Testament, Isaiah prophesied about him, and these verses directly relate to what Isaiah said. 

Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Isaiah 9:1-2

In that same portion of scripture, we hear the famous verses about Jesus’s birth:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

We know from scripture that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, and the One True King, but the world is not convinced, nor even the Jews of that day, and they had scripture confirmation in their own text. But we are not fooled or confused; we know the truth, and He is our Savior.

Food for thought: Before Jesus called his first disciple, he began declaring to the people, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Now, here we are, supposedly two thousand years later, still waiting. I believe our timeline is off, the years have been tampered with, and history is lying to us to confuse us. Renew your mind, and let’s start thinking clearly to uncover the truth about our history. No matter what, we can never go wrong with our belief in Jesus. 

December 22, 2025

So that you know the direction I’m going with my daily devotional posts, while I was sleeping, in the early morning hours of December 7, 2025, I got the strong impression that I should “Follow the Steps of Jesus.” That was the name I remember being given in my dream. The full name of this devotional series is “Follow the Steps of Jesus, A Devotional Study of the New Testament Gospels.” My goal is to trace Jesus’s ministry in roughly chronological order, which means I will jump around in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John until I reach his days on earth after his resurrection. I started that day. For me, I will be revisiting the beginning of this journey of writing, when I had a strong impression, many years ago, to read all the red-letter text in my Bible, in context, of course. The entire Bible is about Jesus, but to experience a more personal, up-close look at his ministry, we will spend some time learning his ways and mannerisms so we might mimic his life as we live for him. On Sunday, during my pastor’s sermon, he brought up scripture that has helped me traverse a life of devotion to Jesus, and it is this:

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke iseasy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30

Following Jesus is not hard, but you have to let him fight your battles. He will train you in his ways like an old bull yoked with a young bull, teaching and leading you, so that one day you will pull your own plow with the idea that you will feed others. And, much like the birds and squirrels that I toss seeds to, if you feed them, they will come. Feed the people the life-giving bread of Jesus; it’s part of your commission from him. One way for you to do that is to repost my devotionals or share scripture memes. People need to know about Jesus. Time is passing much faster than ever before, leading me to believe his return is close. Don’t let the people you love be left behind because you didn’t have the guts to tell them about our Savior, Jesus. 

December 21, 2025

Did you pass the test? Jesus was tested in the wilderness and overcame the devil's temptation. Imagine how delirious he felt after not eating for forty days and forty nights, and yet he passed the test. When I fast for three days, I'm easily tempted to eat. The first thing the devil tempted him with was food, by saying if you are who you say you are, turn these stones into bread but Jesus answered him with this:

And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Luke 4:4

The devil didn't give up and tempted him two more times. Finally, Jesus had had enough; he resisted his temptations, and the devil left him. 

And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. Luke 4:12-13

That was the final word, because he was the Lord thy God! He put him in his place, and he left him alone. The devil knows we are not God; however, he does know we are protected by the Holy Spirit who lives within us. When you are hard pressed on every side, use that knowledge to your advantage. There will always be a way out, but it might not be the opening you want to take because it could cause you embarrassment. Be embarrassed; it's the better option than failing a test allowed by God. I would rather embarrass myself than embarrass the Father who expects my obedience.