Luke 3 NLT

The story in chapter three starts off with John, the son of Zechariah, receiving a message from God. The story goes on to explain how John was titled as “John the Baptist”. “Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven” (Verse 3). Baptism is a big thing especially in my church. Just like what John stated: baptism is a symbol of the repentance of your sins and your new life with Christ. I still remember the day I was baptized in August of 2014 just like it was yesterday. I got baptized with my best friend at the time and I will admit when I went into the water, I felt the Holy Spirit with me. It was life changing and amazing. Keep in mind though: just because you were baptized, does not mean you will never go through any tribulations, or downfalls anymore. God never said the narrow way with Him would be easy. Even though you gave yourself to Him and picked to live a life surrounded by Jesus does not mean life will be perfect…it just means that through the tribulations and trials you face you will have a strong, forgiving, and everlasting God by your side who will give you strength and hope to get through it all.

Another part of chapter three that stood out to me was what John preached to all the people who came to him to be baptized. “‘Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones’” (Verse 8). Have you ever heard the saying “Actions speak louder than words”? I believe this saying relates a lot to verse eight because when it comes to having faith in Christ and repenting of your sins, you should not only say you will give something up, or do something, but you should carry out what you say. I truly believe you witness in a way to others around you when you carry out God’s Word through your actions. For example, I do not go out Friday nights to hang out with friends; instead, I spend time with my family and welcome in the Sabbath by worshipping God with my family, and whoever else that wants to join. I have friends come up to me and tell me how faithful and strong I am that I choose God on Friday nights over hanging out with friends. This is a way that I witness to people around me. They see how I constantly worship and keep the Sabbath and in my past, I had friends of mine who saw this and took part in it because they saw how it made me happy. I am a firm believer that showing faith through your actions is a great way to witness to those around you.

Luke 4 NLT

Chapter four tells the story of Jesus being tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus spent these forty days fasting by not eating anything and just worshipping the Lord. I reference this chapter a lot especially with people that will come up to me and test my faith. In my past, I knew someone who did not believe in God at all. I would have worship every Friday night and this person would show up. Every single Friday they would test, or try to prove me wrong on everything I preached from the Bible. The reason I bring this up is because if you read chapter four, Satan tested Jesus on His faith and twisted scripture. This means that even the devil knew scripture. The person who would show up to my worship nights and did not believe in God also knew scripture and would twist it. This is a scary thing to realize, but you will meet people on your Christian walk who will test you about your faith in Christ. That is why God states in the Bible how we should stay close with Him and study His Word so when people try to test us, we will be strong and firm in our faith and God will bless us with the right words to say back, and/or we will know His scripture to quote back just like Jesus did when Satan tested His faith. “Then the devil said to Him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.’ But Jesus told him, ‘No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone’” (Verses 3-4). See how Jesus responded to the devil testing Him? He quoted scripture back, especially since the devil twisted the scripture that Jesus combatted back with. The main thing that stands out to me in chapter four is to stand firm in our faith. Study His Word and stay close with Christ. With God by our sides, we will have the strength to deal with the darkness of this world, and/or to even prove the devil wrong and keep him away. Stay strong in your faith brothers and sisters in Christ. The darkness may try to overwhelm you, but God is stronger.

Amen.