John 1:43-51\u00a0<\/b>–\u00a0The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip,\u00a0he said to him,\u00a0\u201cFollow me.\u201d 44\u00a0Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.\u00a045\u00a0Philip found Nathanael\u00a0and told him, \u201cWe have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law,\u00a0and about whom the prophets also wrote\u2014Jesus of Nazareth,\u00a0the son of Joseph.\u201d 46\u00a0\u201cNazareth! Can anything good come from there?\u201d\u00a0Nathanael asked. \u201cCome and see,\u201d said Philip.\u00a0<\/i>47\u00a0When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him,\u00a0\u201cHere truly is an Israelite\u00a0in whom there is no deceit.\u201d 48\u00a0\u201cHow do you know me?\u201d Nathanael asked. Jesus answered,\u00a0\u201cI saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.\u201d 49\u00a0Then Nathanael declared, \u201cRabbi,\u00a0you are the Son of God;\u00a0you are the king of Israel.\u201d 50\u00a0Jesus said,\u00a0\u201cYou believe\u00a0because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.\u201d\u00a051\u00a0He then added,\u00a0\u201cVery truly I tell you,\u00a0you\u00a0will see \u2018heaven open,\u00a0and the angels of God ascending and descending\u00a0on\u2019\u00a0the Son of Man.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\u00a0Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.\u00a045\u00a0Philip found Nathanael\u00a0and told him, \u201cWe have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law,\u00a0and about whom the prophets also wrote\u2014Jesus of Nazareth,\u00a0the son of Joseph.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0I would imagine that every Pastor would like to have people in His congregation like Philip.\u00a0 We read that Philip is called by the Lord and immediately he follows Jesus and becomes His disciple and grew into one of the Lord\u2019s twelve Apostles.\u00a0 Philip believed the Lord. This is not a simple belief in how we tend to understand belief.\u00a0 The Lord does not want us to only believe that He is who He is, but He wants us to prove our belief and trust in Him.\u00a0 Recounting the old example of a crowd being amazed as it was watching a tightrope walker push a barrel filled with heavy objects across a highly placed tight robe.\u00a0 The crowd was amazed at his ability.\u00a0 Several times, to the delight of the crowd, he pushed the full wheelbarrow back and forth across the tight rope.\u00a0 Finally he asked the crowd \u201cNow that you\u2019ve seen me push the full wheelbarrow across the tightrope do you believe I could put a person in the wheelbarrow and push that person across the rope?\u201d\u00a0 The crowd yelled out their belief that he could.\u00a0 He then called out to them \u201cDo you really believe?\u201d The crowd shouted out their affirmation.\u00a0 Then he said to them \u201cWonderful!\u00a0 Now, who will be the first to get into the wheelbarrow?\u201d<\/p>\n
Romans 10:9<\/b>\u00a0is often quoted to illustrate that all we need to do to be saved is believe in Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0And that is true as the Apostle Paul wrote. But what is the belief that is needed.\u00a0\u00a0As with the example of the tightrope walker, there is a belief that requires no commitment and there is belief that requires full commitment.\u00a0\u00a0Full commitment is what the Lord requires of us.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus wants us to get into His \u201cwheelbarrow.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Complete belief and commitment is what Philip had in Jesus and He showed it by going out and expressing his faith to others.\u00a0\u00a0His commitment and his belief were one hundred percent and his actions and joyous words showed it.<\/p>\n
Philip\u2019s rock solid belief caused Nathaniel to be curious and excited about the possibility.\u00a0\u00a0Even though Nathaniel had his doubts about a Messiah from Nazareth, Philip\u2019s excitement lit the lamp of curiosity for Nathanial.\u00a0\u00a0No one catches excitement from someone who lacks it.\u00a0\u00a0Consider God and let the fire of your relationship be seen.\u00a0\u00a0You share because your heart and mind demand it.\u00a0\u00a0Your spirit demands it.\u00a0\u00a0People see that, and they want what you have.\u00a0\u00a0Then they meet the Lord and having met Him, they are excited because they have met Him and now they now.<\/p>\n
Now Philip did not only not have all the facts (being a new believer) and even the facts he had were not right on.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus, though raised in Nazareth was not born in Nazareth.\u00a0\u00a0The Messiah, as Nathaniel knew, was to be born in Bethlehem.\u00a0\u00a0(Micah 5:2<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0Also, Joseph was not His father, God was.\u00a0\u00a0So the presented facts were a little fuzzy but Philip knew he had met the Savior and was convinced of it.\u00a0\u00a0That excitement about finding and knowing the Lord got Nathaniel curious.\u00a0\u00a0After all, Nathaniel also was seeker of God and also hoping to meet the Messiah, the fulfilment of highest hope.<\/p>\n
The fire of the love of God in us must burn bright.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus did say that love is the highest commandment (Mark 12:30-31<\/b>) and He also said that we ought to let our lights shine before all people and glorify God. (Matthew 5:14-16<\/b>). So we see how powerful, eternal and effective the ministries of God are.\u00a0\u00a0John the Baptist was faithful and prepared the road to Jesus and that led Andrew to follow Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0Andrew believed and acted on it and Peter was saved.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus called Philip and he believed and acted on it and Nathaniel was saved.\u00a0\u00a0God\u2019s Word is alive, perpetual and eternal and so are the ministries that He blesses.\u00a0\u00a0So let God start something eternal in us.\u00a0\u00a0Let us be excited about God and be amazed at what He does through us.\u00a0\u00a0Philip shared and immediately discovered the excitement in sharing His Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0Let us share our Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0What a blessing!<\/p>\n
John 1:5<\/b>\u00a0\u201cThe light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
Psalm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/p>\n
Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear\u00a0me.<\/p>\n
Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has\u00a0shown you, Oh man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; and what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of you, but\u00a0to do justly, to love\u00a0mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.<\/p>\n
Numbers 6:24-26<\/b>\u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0bless you and keep you; 25\u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26\u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0turn His face\u00a0toward you and give you peace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
John 1:43-51\u00a0–\u00a0The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip,\u00a0he said to him,\u00a0\u201cFollow me.\u201d 44\u00a0Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.\u00a045\u00a0Philip found Nathanael\u00a0and told him, \u201cWe have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law,\u00a0and about whom the prophets also wrote\u2014Jesus of Nazareth,\u00a0the son of Joseph.\u201d 46\u00a0\u201cNazareth! Can…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[100,93,101,94,1874,17,10],"class_list":["post-2643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-john","tag-mark","tag-matthew","tag-micah","tag-numbers","tag-psalm","tag-romans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2643"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2644,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2643\/revisions\/2644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}