Jesus Speaking

JANUARY 1

Christ, Our Role Model

“Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be

about My Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49 nkjv)

We need role models today as never before, and there is no more magnificent

role model than that of Jesus Christ. He is the embodiment

of perfection and the visible portrait of God. Even from boyhood

He was the paragon of behavior and the quintessential standard for

living. From our first encounter with adolescent Jesus in the Bible,

He had a clear understanding of His heavenly calling and a focused

single-mindedness to fulfill His earthly mission. From adolescence to

adulthood, Jesus always purposed to be about His Father’s business

(see Matthew 6:33; Luke 22:42).

Jesus had a uniquely specific mission and an explicitly tailored

calling on His life. And because we were created in the image of God,

we, too, have a unique mission and calling specific to our own lives.

Our mission and calling highlight our individual gifts and are tailored

to our particular talents and personality. Yet despite the diversity

of gifts and the variety of personalities in the world, we can still

look to Jesus as our role model and serve God with the same focused

single-mindedness to be about the Father’s business.

Heavenly Father, I have been created in Christ Jesus to do good works

that You have prepared for me to walk in. Assist me to both understand

my calling and to faithfully complete that which You have

equipped me to do.

Jesus is the perfect role model, because He is

perfect in every way.

JANUARY 2

Our Daily Bread

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread

alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

(Matthew 4:4 niv)

Temptation is real. Just ask Jesus. He marked the beginning of His

public ministry by being baptized in the Jordan River. During this

meaningful event, God gave His approval from heaven by declaring,

“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew

3:17). Shortly after this event, Satan propositioned Jesus: “If You are

the Son of God, command that these stones become bread” (Matthew

4:3). Satan was not questioning Jesus’s deity, but he was attempting to

persuade Jesus to doubt in God’s provision and to disobey God by serving

Himself. Satan used the same method against Eve in the Garden

of Eden (Genesis 3:1), and he continues to use these methods against

God’s people today.

The enemy of God wants you to doubt God’s authority, God’s

provision, and God’s affection. And the sad reality is that it often

works. Most of us have questioned God’s love at one time or another.

We have questioned God’s provision in our lives, and we have questioned

God’s timing, which means that we have questioned His

authority. Doubts like these, left unchecked and uncorrected, can

lead to selfish solutions that only temporarily satisfy. So the next time

you’re tempted by the Enemy to doubt God, go back and feed on the

bread of God’s Word.

Father, forgive me for those times when I have doubted You, when

I have given in to disobedience, and when my doubts have led me

to seek self-serving solutions. Assist me to distinguish and dismiss the

Devil’s doubting whispers.

Jesus declares the Word of God to be our

strength and our sustenance.

JANUARY 3

The Truth Test

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the

Lord your God to the test.’ ” (Matthew 4:7 esv)

Don’t test God! It sounds simple, right? The fact of the matter is that

we all have tested God at one time or another, whether knowingly or

unknowingly. It is certainly correct to trust in God’s promises. But

when we make assumptions as to how and when God should deliver

on those promises, we tread dangerously close to testing Him.

For example, we test God when we demand that He does something

to prove His love, His power, or His wisdom. We test God when

we say, “If God loved me, He would . . .” or “God, if You are real, then

. . .” Testing God shows a lack of trust in God, in His Word, and in

His sovereignty. God has given us His promises to encourage us and

to reassure us; they are not for us to manipulate or strong-arm God

into meeting our demands according to the conditions we’ve set. That

is testing God, and that is sinful. Trusting God counters our tendency

to test God. We must learn to trust that God will accomplish His will,

His way, in His time, and for His glory.

Dear God, You have given me Your promises to comfort me and to

give me hope. Your promises are not for me to exploit Your love or

abuse your power. My doubts can lead to fear, and fear can lead to a

lack of trust. Help me to guard against prayers like this one: “If You’ll

do this, then I will do that.”

Jesus wants us to test less and trust Him more.

JANUARY 4

What Are You Worshiping?

Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You

shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’

” (Matthew 4:10 esv)

“You become like what you worship,” wrote N. T. Wright. “When

you gaze in awe, admiration, and wonder at something or someone,

you begin to take on something of the character of the object you

worship.”1 If we become like what we worship, then it stands to reason

that the sole focus of our awe, admiration, and wonder should now

and forever be God.

Satan demonstrates his craftiness by seeking to ever so slightly

divert our attention away from God. However, it isn’t by enticing us

to such sizeable, recognizable sins; those would be easy to identify

and, therefore, simpler to resist. Rather, Satan is far more subtle with

his bait-and-switch methodology. For example, a prolonged gaze at

power can lead to misplaced priorities. An unrestrained curiosity can

result in improper pursuits. Innocent flirtations can lead to infatuated

relationships. Subtle, slight temptations can lead us down a disorienting

path that leads to misguided worship in which we no longer

worship that which conforms us into the image of God. Instead, we

pursue some lesser imitation or an artificial imago Dei.

Lord God, let nothing diminish or take the place of my awe, admiration,

and wonder for You. May I never accept artificial substitutes

for the true and genuine worship of You. May I forever worship You,

Lord, and serve You only.

Jesus is clear that unadulterated worship

begins and ends with rightly worshiping God.

JANUARY 5

Q and A

Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What

do you seek?” (John 1:38)

What do you seek from Jesus? This is a question that must be asked

of everyone who follows Him. Are you looking at Jesus with idle curiosity?

Are you looking to Jesus to meet your every need? Are you

looking for Jesus to make your life easy and peaceful? Or, are you

looking at Jesus with a genuine desire to grow in the knowledge of

Him? When Jesus first posed this question to Andrew and John, they

answered commendably. They stated they were not seeking what they

could get from Jesus but were looking to learn from Him by spending

time in His presence.

It is very easy to miss simple opportunities to spend time in the

presence of Jesus, worshiping, learning, and growing. All too often we

come to Jesus looking for Him to do something for us. How many

church services have we weakened because we were seeking to get

something from worship rather than simply seeking to worship? How

many of our prayers have been one-sided, asking something of God

yet lacking praise or exaltation? It is not wrong to ask things of God,

because He tells us to do this. But we should spend more time simply

seeking to grow closer to Jesus.

Jesus, Your Word tells me to set my mind and my heart to seek You

(1 Chronicles 22:19), knowing that as I seek You, I will find You (1

Chronicles 28:9). May I seek You for the right reasons, may I seek You

in the right way, and may I seek You “knowing that in Your presence

there is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11).

With Jesus, life is fullest when He is the

center of our affection and attention.

JANUARY 6

Jacob’s Ladder

“Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven

open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon

the Son of Man.” (John 1:51)

In a surreal conversation with Nathanael that we find in the first chapter

of John, Jesus referred to what is commonly called Jacob’s ladder.

Jacob dreamed that angels were ascending and descending from

heaven upon a ladder. When he awoke, he declared, “Surely, the Lord

is in this place” (Genesis 28:16). Jesus alluded to the fact that He is

the personification of Jacob’s dream (see verse 51), meaning that He

is humanity’s point of contact between the eternal and the finite, the

ladder that joins heaven and Earth, and the only bridge between God

and man.

This is a beautiful picture of Jesus as our reconciliatory connection

to a holy and pure God. Jesus is our bridge to the Father.

Therefore, we should never feel that God is unapproachable, because

in Jesus we are cleansed from all sins and free to present all our cares

and concerns before God, anytime and anywhere. Nothing is too big

for God to handle, and nothing is too small to bring to His attention.

Jesus is all-sufficient, and because of Him we can approach God in

humble assurance and confident justification.

Thank you, Lord Jesus. You are our “Jacob’s Ladder.” It is upon You

and Your work that the angels ascend and descend to accomplish Your

purposes, and it is upon You and Your redemptive work that we can

meet with God.

Apart from Jesus, there is no other ladder to

reach God.

JANUARY 7

Untangling Our Worship

And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do

not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!”

(John 2:16)

God doesn’t get angry, does He? Simply put, yes, He does. Just because

God is a God of love doesn’t mean that He never gets angry. But God’s

anger is not like human anger that is so often tainted by sin. When

God gets angry, He does so with an unadulterated, righteous anger.

Jesus was filled with a holy hatred for the defilement of a sacred place

of worship because it had been turned into an extortive, moneymaking

profit center. As a result, He reacted swiftly and decisively. The

worship of business had become more important than the business of

worship, and it negatively impacted the flock of God. This made Jesus

mad. His response was to drive out these money changers and overturn

their tables. This cleansing was a microcosm of His larger desire

to cleanse religion of its selfish and erroneous practices and remove

worldliness from worship. God gets angry when people pervert or

prevent proper worship.

Today, we are the house of God (see 1 Corinthians 3:16), and

as such we must keep ourselves free from the defiling influences that

might pervert or prevent proper worship in our lives. We must prevent

our hearts from becoming like the outer courts that Jesus acted

against, where worship became motivated by self-interest. If anything

is perverting our worship, then Jesus is saying the same to us: “Take

these things away!”

Lord, I seek to embrace a lifestyle of pure worship that is free from

selfish desires and worldly influences. Fill me with a spirit of genuine

worship, rooted in the beauty of Your holiness.

Jesus cares deeply about the purity of our

worship.

JANUARY 8

New Birth

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he

cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)

Nicodemus, a prominent religious leader of his day, thought that salvation

meant checking all the right religious boxes: service, tradition,

rituals, and liturgy. Jesus’s answer was a radical departure from traditional

orthodoxy, and it opened a spiritual can of worms that challenged

the current religious system. Salvation, Jesus explained, was

not obtained through human effort. Rather, it was a work of God,

rooted in the authority of God and accomplished through the Spirit

of God.

A Nicodemus’s understanding of salvation is still common today.

It is a type of thinking characterized by the notion that salvation

depends on a person’s own efforts rather than through a work of God’s

Spirit. However, the reality is that no amount of willpower can force

it, no one is good enough to earn it, and no one is devout enough

to deserve it. Obtaining and maintaining salvation are the gracious

works of God, imparted through a spiritual rebirth and conceived

by belief. We are saved by God’s grace, and we are kept by God’s

grace. Everything we do is merely an expression of gratitude for what

God already has done for us. Those works don’t earn or maintain our

salvation.

Heavenly Father, thank you that I can be born into Your spiritual

family by simply accepting Jesus and making Him Lord of my life.

As Your Spirit has given birth to my spirit, I have become part of the

family of God.

According to Jesus, you cannot be a Christian

unless you are born again.

JANUARY 9

All or Nothing

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness . . .”

(John 3:14)

The Old Testament is true and relevant for your life today. Throughout

the Gospels we find Jesus validating the Old Testament. He recounts

some of the ancient happenings, such as Jonah’s experience in the

belly of the great fish (Matthew 12:40), the creation account (Mark

10:6; 13:19), the giving of the law through Moses (John 7:19), and

the manna provided in the wilderness (John 6:31–51). The meaning

is unmistakable: Jesus saw the Old Testament as God’s Word, and He

had nothing less than absolute confidence in its authority. He repeatedly

endorsed its reliability and relatability to present-day living.

You cannot accept Jesus and reject the Old Testament. When it

comes to the Bible, it is all or nothing. Accepting Jesus and submitting

to His authority means trusting in the totality of Scripture, its

inerrancy, its inspiration, and its infallibility. The Old Testament and

the New Testament both exist to instruct us about God and cultivate a

right relationship with Him. The entire Bible helps us see God clearly,

live rightly, and worship properly. The Bible reveals our imperfect

nature and provides restoration for all who apply its truths.

Thank you, Lord, for Your Word! It is the light to my every step and

the fount that revives my soul. Your Word is perfect, timeless, and

trustworthy. It is complete, lacking nothing, and relevant to my modern

life. I seek to be attentive to its instruction, applying it to my every

situation and allowing it to guide me in all my ways.

Jesus believed that every event in the Old

Testament was true and trustworthy.

JANUARY 10

The Love of God

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten

Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have

everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

God’s love for me is astounding. He demonstrated the pinnacle of

His love by giving His Son as the rescuing sacrifice to redeem not

only me, but all who believe. God’s love is intrinsically part of His

essence; it is unconditional in nature, sacrificial in action, and infinite

in magnitude. God’s love for me is based on His character and not on

anything I say, feel, or do. God’s love is not simply something He does;

it’s who He is.

God loves me on my good days, and He loves me on my bad

days. He loves me when I forsake Him, and He loves me when I follow

Him. He loves me when I can feel the warmth of His love, and

He loves me when I am numb to His love. There is nothing I can do

to make God love me more, and there is nothing I can do to make

God love me less. His love is freely given and is to be freely received.

God, Your love is a mysterious and amazing truth. I know that my

shortcomings are many and my failings are frequent, but Your love

for me is greater than all my slipups and sins.

God’s love is perfectly revealed through Jesus’s

provision to redeem us to Him.