Did John the Baptist really lie…….???!!

The very next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and yelled out, Here He is, God’s Passover Lamb! He forgives the sins of the world! This is the man I’ve been talking about, the One who comes after me but is really ahead of me.

I knew nothing about who He was-only this: that my task has been to get Israel ready to recognize Him as the God-Revealer.

John 1:29-31

Did John know Jesus? Was he telling the truth? If you look at his history you will find something quite surprisingly. Not only did John know Jesus, he was related to Him!! Why then did John say he didn’t know who He was?

For proof they were related let’s look at Luke 1:36:

“And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant!

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months and then went back to her home. Luke 1:56

 

They were related and it looked like their parents had a really good relationship!

I can see it now…….The boys grew up together. Jesus would sleep over at John’s house and vice versa. John and Jesus played together. They were close friends!

So if all this was true, why did John lie about not knowing Jesus?? He knew Him well…..

Let us look at another version to see how John identified Jesus,

 

The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said:

Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

John 1:29

 

This is what struck me about John’s response. He knew who Jesus was but He didn’t get familiar with him. He could have gone there, but instead he made a decision to not be familiar. He refused to see Him as normal; he refused to become familiar with the son of God even though he was related to Him!

This is the lesson; we all have an amazing destiny so let us look at each other in that light! Let us not become familiar with each other that we don’t see God’s hand on him or her. Let us not get familiar to the point we can’t even encourage each other!

John had every right to be familiar with Jesus but he didn’t. He focused on the call of God on His life. And because of that he got to baptize Jesus!!

How do you look at your friends?? What do you think of them? Familiarity has a way of blinding you from seeing the real part of a person! Familiarity will block you from receiving……I believe John the Baptist would have missed his chance at being blessed if he got familiar with Jesus!

I am not suggesting you get all crazy when you see your friend, crazy like bowing down before them and so on….

All I am saying is, we need to see them as having a destiny and a purpose. We can be friends but at the same realize our friends and people close to us have a purpose and as we begin to treat them like they have a purpose we free them to walk in what God has called them into.

John didn’t lie, he simply made a decision to not be familiar with Jesus and he got to baptize Him! What an honor and a privilege…..

Rolain

 

The “Acre of Diamonds” principle.

There are only a handful of people that have not read “Acre of diamonds”. It’s really an amazing story. If I would summarise it I would say it’s about a farmer who never knew what he had in his own backyard. He sells his farm so he can pursue a rumor about diamonds but eventually kills himself because he can’t can’t find them. The new owner finds a strange rock the size of an egg only to find that it’s a diamond. Apparently the farm was filled with diamonds!!! If only the previous owner had looked at what he had first before looking outwardly.

A lot of us do that as well. We always look to the outside for answers, for solutions and so on. Don’t get me wrong, we need advice from people. We need each other. In fact, the word says in the multitude of counselors there is safety. What i am talking about is taking responsibility for your life. No one else is responsible for you. Stop blaming other people for where you are. Stop using other people as an excuse to do nothing. You have so much in you. God has given you so much. You just have to open your eyes. Ask God to show you what He has given you. You’d be surprised at the things He shows you.

Lets look at a very interesting portion of scripture. This is where i have taken the “acre of diamonds” principle. The scripture is in Proverbs 21:20:
There are precious treasures and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a self-confident and foolish man swallows it up and wastes it.

If you are wise there are precious treasures and oil in your dwelling. Do you know that? It may not seem like but its true.
What this scripture is saying is, precious treasures come our way. God blesses us all with these treasures but the wise man knows what to do with them. In fact, the thing that makes a wise man wise in this context is that he can recognise the treasure. And because he can recognise it he knows how to use it. That’s what makes him wise.
So let me ask you this, as you read this are things coming to mind? Maybe it could be a course that you did. It could be a degree or diploma that is just sitting gathering dust at home. Maybe you have a gift that you don’t use that could actually be the answer to your prayer. Maybe you have influence with people but you don’t recognise it. Maybe you have a vehicle that could be used for God’s glory. The list goes on and on. The point is this, what are you doing with what God has given you. Its a fact that He has given you “precious treasures and oil”. It all just boils down to what you doing with it.
When i got this revelation i looked at my life and realised that there were a lot of “precious treasures and oil” that He had given me that i could use. I realised how i didn’t see them the same way God saw them. God saw them as “precious treasures” and i saw them as “those things”. We need to change the way we view God’s blessings. Familiarity will make us lose the importance of what has been given to us. Kill familiarty at all costs. It will short circuit Gods blessing in our life.

Lets move to the last part of that scripture which says:
“but a self confident and foolish man swallows it up and wastes it”.

The thing that seperates a wise man and a foolish man is what they do with what they know. And this last portion shows us that. A foolish man will waste his “treasure and oil”. There is a good chance that he hasn’t got the faintest idea what is in his hands. He has not got a revelation of what he has been given. And that is why he swallows it up and wastes it.
Don’t waste the talent God has given you. Don’t waste the gifts He has blessed you with. Don’t waste the “treasure and oil” He has given you.
You have a choice to make today. You can either use your “treasure and oil” to accomplish your destiny or you can swallow and waste what God has given you. The choice is yours. Don’t be like Esau who never realised what he had. He was the first born which meant he would inherit the best of what his father owned. But he threw it away all because he was hungry! This is what the word says: Then Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils, and he ate and drank and rose up and went his way. Thus Esau scorned his birthright as beneath his notice. Genesis 25:34.
He failed to see and recognise what God had given him and because of that he “scorned” it! That’s what happens when you treat the blessings of God in your life lightly.
As i close i want you to ask God to show you the “precious treasures and oil” he has given you. Ask Him to help you not take it for granted. Ask Him to give you a revelation of how important a role they play in your life.
So what you going to choose? I pray you make the right one today.
Make the right decision today.

God bless

Rolain.P