"The Word"

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

John 1:1,2 ESV

The Word, Jesus has always been. John wants his readers to know that Jesus is eternal, just as God is. He was, He was with God, He was God. He has been since the beginning.

John establishes the deity of Jesus right at the start of his Gospel. This leaves the reader no doubt, concerning the deity of Christ.

As he begins to tell his story about the Good News, John wants it known that Jesus left heaven and came to earth. That He was God in the flesh.

One knows right away that Jesus has always been a part of God and His plan to redeem man. God sent His Word in the flesh to enlighten mankind.

So today, as we read the Gospel according to John we know that the Jesus we read about is God Himself. God took care of the sins of the world Himself. That is the kind of God we serve. Let’s tell the world about Him.

© 2013 Leo J. Woodman

"Be Imitators"

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

1 Cor. 11:1 ESV

This is quite a confident statement for Paul to make. How many of us could be this confident as a disciple of Christ. To know that we are following Jesus close enough to tell other to be imitators of us. I think most of us would feel that we were being arrogant to say such a thing. But, would we?

If we were to truly follow in Jesus footsteps in our own walk we should be able to have the confidence to know that we are doing our Father’s will. But the truth of the matter is we fall short of Jesus example. We don’t always do the Father’s will in our lives. We let our own will take over at times.

While this is true about us feeble humans, we must never forget that we have forgiveness in Christ. If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us. If we are forgiven we are walking in the light as He is in the light and we can have confidence that we are imitating Christ in our lives. This doesn’t mean that we can do just as we please and claim to be imitating Christ. It means when we stumble He is there to help us back up.

photo  ©2011  PhotoAtelier, Flickr

Satan would love nothing more than to shake our faith and confidence in our walk with God. We must realize that our shortcomings are covered in Christ. We are being remade in the image of Christ, who is the exact representation of the Father. If we continue to imitate Christ and continue to ask forgiveness when we fall short we do have a faith worthy of imitation.

So today, be confident in the Lord and do not let satan get a foothold in your life. Be imitators!

© 2013 Leo J. Woodman