I NEED JESUS PART 2 QUIET MOMENT The voice cried out, “Make ready the way of the Lord!” True repentance is not just mental assent or a ritualistic act. It is an altering of thinking and a reevaluating and reorganizing of priorities that leads to a change of lifestyle. It is getting things out of the way so that the Lord may come closer. What do you need to do to make the way ready for the Lord in your heart? GOING DEEPER Read Luke 3:1-14. What speaks to your heart? Even as Christians—as those who have repented and turned to God—how can we apply this to our hearts? 1. Do you think hearts today are different than those in the days of Christ? 2. Even if we are in Christ, how can our hearts be hardened by unconfessed sin? Repentance isn’t a popular subject today. So many churches have not wanted to offend people by preaching it. John the Baptist wasn’t afraid of offending people; it was God he didn’t want to offend. True repentance will manifest itself in a willingness to change and give up things like pet sins (sins we make allowances for or minimize), selfishness, self-centered living, and hurtful behavior. True repentance will produce a whole harvest of new behavior based on a willingness to put off the old and put on the new. John said to bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance. It is an outgrowth of a change in the heart. What are some examples John mentions in verses 11-14? What would the Lord say to you if you asked Him, “If these things are true, Lord, what shall I do?” If you are to turn toward God with all your heart, what would you need to get rid of to truly clean house? Confess to the Lord any unwillingness to let go of your ways. REFLECTION AND PRAYER Meditate on what you have just read and close in a prayer to the Lord. LUK 3:4-6 NIV As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all people will see God’s salvation.’ ” LUK 3:1-14 NIV In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all people will see God’s salvation.’ ” John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” “What should we do then?” the crowd asked. John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 15:00:21 +0000
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