None Greater Than John

Jesus spoke of John the Baptist “there is no other man born of a woman greater than John”. When Jesus spoke this, I’m certain it seemed strange to many people in his day.  He could’ve spoken of one of the Pharisees (he called them snakes) and warned “watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees”. He could have spoken of someone in the past, such as Moses or Elijah, but he spoke of John.  Now who is this man called John the Baptist? Well, he wasn’t your typical church-goer, and he wasn’t a suit-and-tie kind of guy. But he stayed out in the wilderness and wore camel’s hair, a leather girdle or belt, and ate wild honey.  John was a little rough around the edges, to say the least. He probably wouldn’t be invited at any church to speak. He probably wasn’t even looked at as someone who knew of Christ, or would even speak on Christs’ coming.  But he did. After four hundred years of silence from God, John the Baptist was the man to open up the scene of the next event on God’s prophetic timetable, Christs’ coming. He was out in the wilderness, and what exactly did he do out there? Hear from God.  He heard from God Almighty, our Father and had a stinging conviction in his heart.

God uses the foolish things to confound the wise (1 Corinthians 1).  Things in God are not always as they seem. The people God uses, and the way God does things are not the way we would do them.  The scriptures say as far as the heavens are from the earth, so high are his thoughts from our thoughts. (Isaiah 55: 8-9)

And when John spoke he had one message, Repent.  “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.” He had many followers who responded and looked to him to be baptized in the river.  Interesting. He spoke of baptism, being baptized. Who else spoke of being baptized? The religious leaders of that day? No. Only John. Repent means to change your mind. Go back to the top.  The highest point of thought. Re (again) Pent (high point), where we get the word penthouse. John was radical, he was out there, literally and figuratively, yet Jesus praised him. Jesus said there was no other man born of a woman greater than John.  So when we are judged for being a little different, its okay, as long as you have the gospel in your mouth you are preaching. As long as you are being salt and light, and demonstrating your faith in God where people can see your good works and glorify your God in heaven.  

Realize that you have sin, a sinful nature, which needs to be cleansed, cleansed by the blood of Jesus.  I call for you to repent this day, repent of your sins so that you may be saved. Please read out loud this prayer with me, if you can find a quiet place to kneel I encourage you to do so.  “Jesus, I come to You today acknowledging You as my Savior and Lord. I ask that you forgive me from every sin I committed. I believe you came down in the flesh, died for my sins and that you are the Son of God.  Now, I renounce sin, I renounce the devil, you have no place in me! Lord Jesus I thank you that I am saved. You said whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You said that if I confess with my mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead, that I shall be saved.”

Now that you are saved, please share this with somebody.  Find a local church and begin to learn more of this walk with God.  Don’t worry about not being perfect, or the current lifestyle you are in.  The Lord will fix those things in time as you submit more of yourself to Him.  I tell you people, He is worth it. Jesus is worthy of our lives. He didn’t have to die for us, but he did.  He doesn’t want anyone to go to the lake of fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels.