Bearing witness of that Light

"When J.C. O'Hair died, both Mr. Stam and Mr. Baker did his funeral. Stam said, 'We didn't coordinate ahead of time what we were going to talk about, but we both chose the same text.'

"It was John 1:6: [6] There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

"The name John means 'the gift of God.' When it says John was sent from God that wasn't a colloquial expression. This guy was sent directly by God on purpose through divine revelation. God went to John and said, 'Okay, I want you,' just like He went to Old Testament prophets all the time.

"The passage continues: [7] The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

[8] He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
[9] That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
[10] He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
[11] He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
[12] But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
[13] Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
[14] And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

"Go down to verse 29: [29] The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

"John recognized the deity of Christ; he knew the pre-existence of Christ. John the Baptist was a cousin of the Lord Jesus Christ.

*****

"A brother in Christ asked me once, ‘What is your favorite subject to study in all of the Bible?’ Usually my favorite book is the one I’m studying at the time because you just get caught up and fascinated in it.

“But I thought for a minute, ‘If there’s one subject in the Bible that you like to study that does more for you when you study it than any other subject, that would be your favorite subject, that when you’re down in the dumps, it’s the subject you’d study and it’d get you up, and when you’re up already it’s the subject that would bring you up more . . .’

“The word ‘enthusiasm’ is a Greek word--‘en’ and then the word ‘theos,’ or God. Into God. The Greek word is the idea of being inspired and lifted up. You get into God and it gets you into life.

“If there’s one thing I could study, and that I do study a lot, and just enjoy studying that always revs me up, it’s what Christ told that guy to do. It’s the deity of Christ.

"Of all the subjects in the Bible, for me personally, and I think for every Believer, ought to be the most powerful subject in your life, is just to stand back and look at who the Bible says Jesus Christ is and appreciate the fact that you’re in Him and that you’re complete in Him, and that it’s Him who is the source of all your blessings, and the source of your true, real identity, and He’s the one you have all your status in.

“You see, that’s the thing that’s so wonderful about the grace of God; it’s that it makes Jesus Christ everything. And the Bible says that ‘it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell.’ If you ask God the Father what is the most exciting subject in all the universe, He’d say, ‘My Son.’

“Psalm 16 says ‘at my right hand are pleasures forever more.’ Well, who sits at the Father’s right hand? Any way you cut it, slice it, dice it, look at it, think about it, take it apart and put it back together, Jesus Christ is the apple of the Father’s eye. He’s the thing that causes the Father’s heart to rejoice. He’s the one.

“It’s mindboggling when you really look at what the Scripture says about who He is. It’s sort of numbs your mind. It’s SO big, and it just keeps getting bigger, and you can never just get your arms around it."

(new post tomorrow. i broke my wrist yesterday morning walking on broken up asphalt. it's called Colles Fracture. can only type with finger from right hand)