Tag Archives: Galilee

Let Him Shine, January 27, 2020

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Today’s Podcast

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

Last night the lights went out. It was dark. I mean dark. I went to the front of the house to see if the whole neighborhood lost electricity or just us. By the time I reached the hall, I had realized it was a bad idea. I headed back to retrieve a flashlight from the nightstand before I stumbled over a chair or table or something left in a spot I didn’t expect. I couldn’t see anything with cloud cover and the darkness. 

It made me wonder about people living before electric lights. Just two hundred years ago, candlelight would have been the extent of the illumination to lead me through my house last night. Have you ever traveled through a house by candlelight? It’s not much. Certainly, more than pure darkness, but not much. 

Candles produce about thirteen lumens, less than a two and a half-watt small Christmas tree bulb. Can you imagine living with no more light than that? Picture yourself as the woman looking for the lost coin with just a candle. Or think of the fear of huddling in the darkness during one of those famous Texas thunderstorms with only your oil lamp to provide some relief from the dark and the howling wind that threaten to overtake you.

Our kids don’t know much about physical darkness today. Few have seen the beauty of the Milky Way with their eyes. Light pollution from most of our cities keeps us from observing that band of stars that populate our galaxy and stretches across the sky. The lights from towns mask the brilliance of the stars except on oceans or deserts. We don’t know darkness, so we don’t appreciate the light. 

Now that you’ve given a little thought to life without electric lights. Now that you’ve spent a moment putting yourself back a couple of hundred or a couple of thousand years into the past looking into the darkness of the night that surrounds you wondering about the predators that might be lurking in the shadows. I’d like you to listen to the words Isaiah wrote concerning the coming savior of the world.

They come from the book by his name from chapter 9.

But there will be no more gloom for those who knew such hardship. In times past, God humbled the land of Zebulun and Naphtali; later, He will restore the honor and glory to the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee, home of the nations.

The people who had been living in darkness

   have seen a great light.

The light of life has shined on those who dwelt.

   in the shadowy darkness of death.

And You, God, will make it happen. You bolstered the nation,

   making it great again. You have saturated it with joy.

Everyone in it is full of delight in Your presence,

   like the joy they experience at the harvest,

   like the thrill of dividing up the spoils of war.

For as You did back in the day when Midian oppressed us,

   You will shatter the yoke that burdens them,

You will lift the load that weighs them down,

   You will break the rod of their oppressor.

About whom is Isaiah talking? The God-Man, Jesus. He sheds light on the darkness of our hearts. He opens our minds to what God intends us to be. He makes a way for us to enter into the presence of a holy God when we know we do not deserve to be there. Jesus, God wrapped in human flesh to show us how much he cares for us. He came to pay the price for our disobedience. He died for you and me so that we might live.

From an earthly point of view, he grew up in the most unlikely place, Galilee, and in one of the most unlikely villages in that region, Nazareth. No one would have thought the King of all kings would come from a place like that. He knew what it meant to grow up on the “other side of the tracks” in poverty and crime-ridden neighborhoods. Nathaniel understood Nazareth when he commented, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

But something did. Someone did. Jesus. The one who brings light to a dark world. His light is not that lumen candle the people of his day used to illuminate their darkened houses in a storm, but John described his glorified body in his Revelations as brighter than the sun. You can’t look at the sun for more than a few seconds without some serious pain; the light is so intense. That’s the light Jesus brings to our hearts. 

The end of the first month of 2020 approaches fast. We’ve talked about the coming of God into our world and how we should listen to him, seek him, share him. We should also let him illuminate our lives in such a way that he can shine through us so that others see him in us. We should reflect his light in all we do. Today is a good day to start, don’t you think?  

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible-based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day. 

Scriptures marked THE VOICE are taken from THE VOICE (The Voice): Scripture taken from THE VOICE ™. Copyright© 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Why do you follow Jesus? (John 6:22-40) December 19, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – John 6:22-40

Set – John 6

Go! – John 5-6

John 6:22-40
22 The following day some people gathered on the other side of the sea and saw that only one boat had been there; they were perplexed. They remembered seeing the disciples getting into the boat without Jesus.
23 Other boats were arriving from Tiberias near the grassy area where the Lord offered thanks and passed out bread. 24 When this crowd could not find Him or His disciples, they boarded their small boats and crossed the sea to Capernaum looking for Him. 25 When they found Jesus across the sea, they questioned Him.
Crowd: Teacher, when did You arrive at Capernaum?
Jesus: 26 I tell you the truth—you are tracking Me down because I fed you, not because you saw signs from God. 27 Don’t spend your life chasing food that spoils and rots. Instead, seek the food that lasts into all the ages and comes from the Son of Man, the One on whom God the Father has placed His seal.
Crowd: 28 What do we have to do to accomplish the Father’s works?
Jesus: 29 If you want to do God’s work, then believe in the One He sent.
Crowd: 30 Can You show us a miraculous sign? Something spectacular? If we see something like that, it will help us to believe. 31 Our fathers ate manna when they wandered in the desert. The Hebrew Scriptures say, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”
Jesus: 32 I tell you the truth: Moses did not give you bread from heaven; it is My Father who offers you true bread from heaven. 33 The bread of God comes down out of heaven and breathes life into the cosmos.
Crowd: 34 Master, we want a boundless supply of this bread.
Jesus: 35 I am the bread that gives life. If you come to My table and eat, you will never go hungry. Believe in Me, and you will never go thirsty. 36 Here I am standing in front of you, and still you don’t believe. 37 All that My Father gives to Me comes to Me. I will receive everyone; I will not send away anyone who comes to Me. 38 And here’s the reason: I have come down from heaven not to pursue My own agenda but to do what He desires. I am here on behalf of the Father who sent Me. 39 He sent Me to care for all He has given Me so that nothing and no one will perish. In the end, on the last day, He wants everything to be resurrected into new life. 40 So if you want to know the will of the Father, know this: everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will live eternally; and on the last day, I am the One who will resurrect him.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Why do you follow Jesus? I knew that many that crossed the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum that day were following Me only to see more miracles. They didn’t care about My teaching, they only wanted to see Me turn a small lunch into enough to feed a crowd again. Or to cause a blind man to see. Or make a lame man walk. They followed Me to see some circus act and see what kind of spectacle I might perform in their presence so they could tell their children and their neighbors about it when they returned home.

But why do you follow Me? If you follow Me only so I protect you or heal you or provide for you, you’ve come to Me for the wrong reason. Remember what I told you. In this world you will have trouble. If you follow Me, you will find yourself surrounded by those who want to hurt you or even kill you. They tried to stone Me, push Me over a cliff, even kill Me. They could do none of those things until I allowed them to take Me to the cross, but they can and will do those things to you. Look at the trail of martyrs that have gone before you. Don’t think you will remain exempt from the persecution that has befallen the church.

So why do you follow Me? Do you want to hear My words? Do you want to learn from Me? Do you want to find out how to gain the abundant life I spoke about when I walk alongside you? Do you follow Me to discover how I want you to live? Do you follow Me to become like Me as My disciple? Why do you follow Me? Doing so will cost you everything. It will cost your plans, your wealth, your family, maybe even your life. The reward is worth it, but you must count the cost before you decide to follow Me. Understand it will cost you everything when you follow Me.

Stop and think about it. Most of the crowd that day just wanted to see more miracles. They didn’t understand My mission or meaning. Few who come beside Me will take up the mantle and truly follow. But abundant life awaits those who do. Will you be one of those who follow Me for the right reasons?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
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