The Begining of Christ's Teaching

7/22/17 for 7/5/17              rebeccacreates2012@gmail.com

Loving God Greatly ~ Sold Out, Bible Study, Week 3

Read: John 1:35-42 SOAP John 1:40

John 1:35-42King James Version (KJV)

35 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;

36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

38 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?

39 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.

40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.

42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

Dear Father,
What must have been going thru John's head when he saw Jesus approaching? A thousand thoughts  I would think, here He is, He's here, what will His life be Like? How many will be saved? I would think that there would be an absolute myriad of thoughts just going round and round and round in his head, all vieing for being in the center. 
This was the begining of the earthly reign of Christ.  But what most of us do not realize is that His reign is still proceeding forward. We still celebrate His birthday.  
You and He and the Holy Spirit love us all so much.
God is so good, God is so good,  God is so good,  He so good to me.
He answers prays, He answers prayers, He answers prayers,  He's so good to me.
That song just jumped into my head.  Thank you Father. Or was it the Holy Spirit that prompted that? Not really sure, but wouldn't you prefer to have positive wonderful thoughts of Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit filling your brain? I would.
Well it is time for SOAP...
S - John 1: 40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.
O - this particular scripture to me is a digger scripture.  For any of you who are aware of how my quizzical brain works, you probably understand, for those of you who don't know me, it is simply this.  This scripture makes me want to dig.  If you continue reading you will find that this man, Jesus renames Cephas, which means "A Stone."  That is in verse 42.  Okay so now I have a done just a little more digging and I believe that Cephas is also the same Simon Peter. On this rock I will build my church....something like that.  More work to be done on this One!
A - so how do we apply this?  We hear many speakers.  But their goal should be to have their audience want to follow Jesus, not them.  On Sunday or the occasional Saturday  or sometimes on Wednesday's  when I go to church I hear Pastor Don Wolabaugh's wonderful teaching, and lately I hear him and he tag teams with others and the messages are "off the hook,"  so much so that I have to frequently relisten to the teachings. When I listen live, I can not pause and write down important stuff, but when I relisten, I can do just that.  Listen to speakers, but spend time in the word, and follow Jesus.
P - Thank you Father, you constantly supply us with wonderful words.  Teachings that are all right there in front of us. Just dig a little bit.  Father I pray for my family, especially today.  My baby's birthday is today.  And she has a wonderful family, as I do have many more children and grandchildren and one great grandchild.  My cup runneth over and I pray that you will teach me so I can teach them and just love them as you would.  Father place your hedge of protection around each and every one of them, keep them safe from everything and guard their eye gates, and ear gates and mouth gates.  Just please keep all safe and sound and help us all to follow You, not man.  Amen and amen.