“‘Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, ‘Why do you question these things in your hearts?’” – Mark 2:7-8

The scribes were right in thinking that only God can forgive sins. What they failed to understand, despite all the miraculous evidence available to them, is that God had taken on a human body and nature, and was in the room with them. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”

To make things unmistakably clear to those willing to see the truth, Jesus asked whether it was easier for Him to say that sins were forgiven or to tell a paralyzed man to get up and walk. Then Jesus told a paralyzed man to get up and walk, and he did. His point wasn’t that He could heal paralyzed people. The point is that Jesus can forgive sins because He is God come in the flesh.

In Acts 4:12, Peter declared, “There is salvation in no one else.” That’s true! Only God can forgive sins. Jesus is God come in the flesh. There are not many ways to salvation or forgiveness. Salvation and forgiveness is only possible through faith in Jesus. If you haven’t already done so, confess your sins to Jesus, asking forgiveness in His name, believing that He is the crucified, resurrected, eternal Son of God. #FollowJesus

“Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me all that I ever did.'” – John 4:39

What is a testimony? It’s simply a person’s honest story of how they met Jesus and were changed by Him. Scripture records the powerful impact one Samaritan woman’s testimony about Jesus had. She led her whole town to the Lord!

Was she a woman of great influence, wealth, education, or social standing? Absolutely not! Indeed, she was probably something of an outcast in town. She’d been married many times. She was living with a man who wasn’t her husband. She was drawing water in the heat of mid-day, possibly to avoid her neighbors.

But when she met Jesus, she told EVERYONE! She dropped everything to bring people to learn about Jesus in person. God used her testimony to raise many Samaritans to new spiritual life in Christ. That’s the power of testimony.

What’s your testimony about Jesus? How did you meet Him? How has He changed you? Can you share this testimony in a concise and interesting manner? Do you share it? God can use your testimony in extraordinary ways if you’re eager to share it. #FollowJesus

“And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” – Matthew 4:21-22

As dramatic as this sounds to us, what James and John did was even more radical in that particular time and place. Jesus called them and they instantly dropped everything, leaving their father and jobs behind to follow Jesus. They didn’t know much about Him, but they turned their lives upside down to follow Jesus. Because they did, Jesus worked through them to turn the world upside down.

Are you following Jesus like this? The invitation of Jesus hasn’t changed: “Follow Me”. You probably know more about Jesus than James or John did at that point in their lives. So, are you following Jesus? How closely?

Have you turned your life upside down to follow Jesus? He doesn’t call us to lukewarm fandom. He calls us to life-altering following. Has your life been altered by, and for, Jesus? If you’re willing to turn your life upside down for Jesus, don’t be surprised when He turns the world (or at least a little part of it) upside down through you! #FollowJesus

“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” – Matthew 1:21

For Jesus, His name is His mission. Before He was born in Bethlehem, God declared through an angel what His Son was coming to do. The child was to be named Jesus – Yeshua in the original language. Yeshua means “YHWH (The Lord) Saves” or “YHWH Is Salvation”.

The eternal Son of God stepped out of glory, taking on human flesh, in order to save us from our sins. That was His purpose for coming and His name communicated that truth from before He was born. God was actively intervening to rescue humanity from our sins. God was sending a Savior to reconcile sinful, rebellious mankind to Himself.

Jesus did many things during His earthly ministry. He taught the words of God. He did the works of God. He healed the sick, blind, deaf, and those who couldn’t walk. He cast out demons. He controlled weather, rearranged molecules, multiplied food, and trampled the waves. He raised the dead to life. All of it combined to reveal the true extent of the Lord’s salvation.

The Lord’s salvation isn’t merely about forgiveness of sins. It’s about truth, grace, healing, relief, love, and abundant life. It’s about reversing the curse of Genesis 3 and renewing God’s good creation. The Lord truly saves and Yeshua – Jesus – is that salvation. #FollowJesus

“All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” – John 1:3

This is Jesus! When we picture Jesus in our mind, we mostly picture Him walking the earth after the incarnation. After He took on a human body and nature to walk among us preaching, teaching, healing, blessing, cleansing, creating, and going to the cross for our sins. Occasionally we picture Jesus as He is today: resurrected, radiant, and reigning in Heaven, though still both fully God and fully human.

We almost never think of Him BEFORE He was born into this world. Nonetheless, He has eternally existed. He is eternally the Son of God and Second Person of the Triune Godhead. There was never a time when Jesus didn’t exist. He was never created. He is eternally existent. His existence depends on nothing. Meanwhile, the existence of everything depends on Him!

All of creation was made through Christ. Everything… Every atom and molecule came into being through Christ. Every star and galaxy. All through Christ! Take time today to meditate on the glory of Christ before time began and before He stepped down out of that glory and into our world. Praise Him for He is. #FollowJesus