​¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. ⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John 1:1-5 [NKJV]

Hey guys, I wanna welcome you to my daily devotions series on this nice Labor Day holiday. As you sit down to read this entry, I want to bring you back to the very beginning of what motivated me to keep this series going the very first time I started it. I was determined to stick to this personal mission because I believed (for some strange spiritual reason), that if Jesus could be the living word of God, perhaps we as followers of Jesus could also somehow do at least some portions of what He has done, and how He lived. After all, what is the point of having a role model and example, if we don’t actually make an effort of trying to follow in His footsteps right?

Sure, I think it’s impossible to think that we can actually live as Jesus lived, or to be Him 100%. While He may be God in the living flesh, He is still fully God manifested. But we, as believers and Christians, can still aim to become the best possible representation/reflection of who Jesus Christ, hence God is.

And so, that was how I found the motivation to keep this personal alive for almost two years straight. Now, it is my lifelong mission to keep this entries going.

The Word was God

That’s where we will begin our daily bread today. We will once again seek to understand why the Word was so powerful. According to the Hebrew scripture, the Word has been considered to be an agent of creation. At the time of John, according to the Greek philosophy, the Word has been associated with the principle of reason that governed the world, or at least the thought that is in our minds. But ofcourse, according to the Hebrews then, the Word has been closely associated to God Himself.

By extracting all of the key phrases in the first passage of this daily bread, we can immediately identify THREE important things:

• Power of Creation – verse 3
• Power of Life – verse 4
• Power of Hope – verse 5

Because the Word was and still is God, the Word has the very same power of create, to give us life, and also to provide hope in the darkest corners of our lives.

Now that we have understood the source of the Word, we are ready to understand the next part of this daily devotion.

Jesus Christ, the Living Word

As we begin to read further into John 1, we will come to verse 14. What many believers and Christians, especially the younger Christians, may not realize is that this verse alone holds a really powerful lesson of the role of Jesus Christ among us (God becoming flesh and living among our fellow human beings). And this section will allow us to see why that is.

For the purpose of our spiritual discussion today, I want to skip to the second part of our study notes section first. Here it explained to us that before Christ came, people (I would assume those before Jesus’ time, like Old Testament time) never really could know God fully. They might have a shepherd, or someone to guide them with God’s teachings. But there really isn’t a way to really see and know who God was.

I thought this would also be the perfect way to segue into the whole goal/mission of why I started this Daily Bread series. It’s not so much about wanting to set a positive example for others to follow. This isn’t about me. Instead, I wanted to find a way to be more like Jesus Christ. I wanted to do everything that I could to live according to the Word of God. Sure, as a human being, my flesh is always weak, and I do succumb to temptations from time to time. So technically, it would be impossible for me to be like Jesus Christ. But I do believe that to a certain measure, I can at least try to become the best possible reflection of who our Lord Jesus Christ is.

I also believed deeply that the best way for us to show others who God is, and who Jesus Christ is, isn’t by trying to preach to the (as some would like to say, forcing the bible down their throats). No. I honestly believe that God gave us Jesus Christ, His only son, so that we can have a living example. Someone that we could see with our own eyes. By giving us an example to follow, we can now see that it is actually possible to do the things that God has been trying to tell us to do (according to His word).

In very much the same way, I believed that the people around Jesus’ time on earth could finally have a chance to not know know about God, but also to see Him in the living flesh, as Jesus Christ.

Now, We Know It is Possible

And this is where my discussion for today’s daily bread will finish. Now that we know the power of the Word, we have seen how Jesus Christ has come to earth so that we could finally see and know God (in the flesh), the only thing left for us is to put everything that we have known and seen into action in our own lives.

The whole idea behind “following Jesus” is really about being the “doer of the Word”.

James 1:22-25 is a really great passage to help remind us of what it means to not just listen and know the Word of God, but also to act upon it within our daily lives. Until we act upon the knowledge and wisdom that has been given to us, it will forever remain just that, knowledge and wisdom. But once we’ve put it into action, it becomes real life experiences.

And when it comes to learning about the Word of God, we have no one better to show us the way than our Lord Jesus Christ. The second part of the study notes for John 1:14 showed us that first and foremost, Jesus Christ has two important roles in our lives:

1. He is our Teacher.
2. He is our Role Mode.

It is why so many worship songs today is always trying to tell us to look to Jesus. It’s not about trying to see Jesus in Heaven, although sure, He is there right now looking down over us. No. Since we can’t actually really see Him. But rather, to “look to” Jesus is more about following in His footsteps and how He treats others, how He loves, how He shows compassion towards others, and how He lived His daily life here on earth. That is what you and I should be looking to.

Personal Prayer for Today

Oh Heavenly Father in heaven,

Thank You for giving us such a nice public holiday today so that we could get some quality rest at home, or to spend quality time with our families.

But more importantly, we are here because we want to spend our time with You as well. We are here today because we want to look to Jesus Christ, our teacher and the perfect example of how we ought to live and conduct ourselves as Christians & believers.

Father God, we thank You for sending Your son Jesus Christ down to earth so that we as humans could finally get to not only know who You are, but also to see You in the living flesh.

As we continue with our day, and spending time with our loved ones today, we ask that You continue to reveal to us who You are. Continue to show us Your ways by the Word.

Please continue to remind us that it is not enough to just know the Word of God, or to know who Jesus is. We have to take the next step of acting upon the Word of God and also to continue living our lives the way that Jesus has done during His time on earth.

We vow to give You all of our praises, and all of our glory.

In Jesus’ mighty name we pray.

Amen.