Key Thought

Today's Prayer

Glorious Father, thank you for sending Jesus to give me life. I do believe that your Son, Jesus, came to be my Savior by dying for my sin on the Cross. I believe you raised him from the dead to ensure my future. I believe that he poured out the Holy Spirit. And, dear Father, I believe he is returning in glory to bring the redeemed home to be with you. So bless me as I try to live obediently to Jesus, my Lord, in whose name I pray. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

After this, Jesus and his followers went into the area of Judea. There Jesus stayed with his followers and baptized people. John was also baptizing people in Aenon. Aenon is near Salim. John was baptizing there because there was plenty of water. People were going there to be baptized. (This happened before John was put into prison.) Some of John's followers had an argument with another Jew. They were arguing about religious washing. So the followers came to John. They said, "Teacher, remember the man that was with you on the other side of the Jordan River? He is the man you were telling people about. That man is baptizing people, and many people are going to him." John answered, "A man can get only what God gives him. You yourselves heard me say, 'I am not the Christ. I am only the one that God sent to prepare the way for him.' The bride always belongs to the bridegroom. The friend that helps the bridegroom just waits and listens. He's happy just to hear the bridegroom talk. That's how I feel now. I'm so happy that he (Jesus) is here. He must become more and more important. And I must become less important. "The One (Jesus) that comes from above is greater than all other people. The person that is from the earth belongs to the earth. That person talks about things that are on the earth. But the One (Jesus) that comes from heaven is greater than all other people. He (Jesus) tells what he has seen and heard. But people don't accept what he says. The person that accepts what he (Jesus) says has given proof that God speaks the truth. God sent him (Jesus). And he tells the things that God says. God gives {him} the Spirit fully. The Father loves the Son. The Father has given the Son power over everything. The person that believes in the Son has life forever. But the person that does not obey the Son will never have that life. God's anger stays with that person."

Related Scripture Readings

In the past, your spiritual lives were dead because of your sins and the things you did wrong against God. Yes, in the past you lived doing those sins. You lived the way the world lives. You followed the ruler of the evil powers over the earth. That same spirit is now working in those people who refuse to obey God. In the past, all of us lived like those people. We lived trying to please our sinful selves. We did all the things our bodies and minds wanted. We were {evil} people. We should have suffered God's anger because of the way we were. We were the same as all other people. But God's mercy is very great, and God loved us very much. We were {spiritually} dead. We were dead because of the things we did wrong against God. But God gave us new life with Christ. You have been saved by God's grace (kindness). And God raised us up with Christ and gave us a seat with him in the heavenly places. God did this for us who are in Christ Jesus. God did this so that for all future time he could show the very great riches of his grace. God shows that grace by being kind to us in Christ Jesus. I mean that you are saved by grace. And you got that grace by believing. You did not save yourselves. It was a gift from God. No! You are not saved by the things you have done. So no person can boast {that he saved himself}. God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would do good things. God had already planned those good things for us. God had planned for us to live our lives doing those good things.

Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son. God gave his Son so that every person that believes in him would not be lost, but have life forever. God sent his Son into the world. God did not send his Son to judge the world guilty. God sent his Son so that the world could be saved through his Son.

You were all baptized into Christ. So you were all clothed with Christ. This shows that you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Now, in Christ, there is no difference between Jew and Greek (non-Jew). There is no difference between slaves and free people. There is no difference between male and female. You are all the same in Christ Jesus.