DATE POSTED
Friday, January 10, 2025, and I was blessed to be at Mariposa at Hunter Road, San Marcos, TX when God inspired me to prepare this devotional. My Footnote will tell you how to find and read any and all episodes that I have shared over the years.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Quoted from the Living Bible (TLB) and found in John 1:35-37; 41-42

THE SCRIPTURE READS
³⁵ The following day as John was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶ Jesus walked by. John looked at him intently and then declared, “See! There is the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ Then John’s two disciples turned and followed Jesus.
⁴¹ Andrew then went to find his brother Peter and told him, “We have found the Messiah!” ⁴² And he brought Peter to meet Jesus…..

APPLICATION – as inspired by the Holy Spirit
Think for a moment what you say while inviting someone to attend church with you. Often, we use words, or hear things, like: ‘We have a wonderful church’; ‘We have an outstanding pastor’; ‘We have the friendliest people’; ‘We have an outstanding worship team’; etc. How often do we say, or hear others say, ‘Come and meet our Savior, Jesus my Lord, for He’s always present in our worship services’? Surely, we’re not trying to use trickery to get our family and/or friends to attend worship with us, right? Or are we truly using the very things that causes us to be in church? Friends, let me draw your attention to two things:
-> 1. John made no attempt to convince his disciples to stay with him but instead pointed them to Jesus. I once heard a pastor say that his congregation should rejoice as a member leaves them and moves on to ministry in another place, for they (the church) have done their job of disciple’ing that person and they should thank God that the person is now using those blessings attained at their church to go on and bless others. BUT, is that the way it really works in reality?
-> 2. Andrew, one of the two disciples who left John to follow Jesus, was so excited after meeting Jesus in person that he hurried home to share the good news with his brother, Simon, to – now get this, come and meet Jesus. No mention of the place where Jesus was staying, or the nature and/or charisma of Jesus, or the friendly owner of the guest house where they were staying. It was Jesus that Andrew wanted his brother to meet!
I wonder whether we would still invite people to attend church with us if we knew they would only come once, meet Jesus, and then you never see them again. Why, aren’t we trying to fill every seat in our church so the chores and responsibilities could be split with more attendees, or so that we could see the offerings increase to help us meet the expense of our new building; or give the raise to our pastor and staff that we feel they need? Do you suppose that we sometime lose sight of why we worship, and the one that we meet to worship? Do we lose sight of the commands of Jesus to ‘go ye into all the world and preach the gospel? – invite them to know your Jesus’. Wouldn’t it be awesome to see our churches fill up with people excited about their new-found faith in Jesus Christ, rather than attending because of the charisma of the pastor, or the perfection in the voices of the praise team, or the deep pockets of the church to help us out of our financial woes? Friends, as I challenge you with these words, please know that I must first seek and acknowledge the deep love of Jesus and be willing to invite my friends to come and meet Jesus, with or without the blessings of an awesome pastor, a warm and friendly church family, or the awesome place in which we meet. Let’s work towards being like John the Baptist and Andrew where nothing else matters when we invite others to join us at the feet of Jesus, for it’s all about Him, and nothing else!

PRAYER
Blessed Lord and Savior, thank You for drawing our attention to the ways in which we have allowed the world to invade our minds and convince us of how the things of this world overshadow the love of our Savior who died and rose again, so that we might be saved from our sin and reach for the glories of Heaven. Nothing else matters when we fix our eyes on You and You alone, so please impress upon us the need to promote You as the aim of our worship, our church, our hope, and our eternal destiny. Please help us to emphasize that to as many as would listen, so that they may search You out, whether they ever attend our respective churches or not, for it’s You that saved us and readied us for Heaven and eternity with You and the Father. Be glorified in us dear Jesus, so that others will see You and desire relationship with You. Please help us to always point others to You! AMEN!

FOOTNOTE
If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please take advantage of information provided on my page ‘To Know Jesus’. I would also suggest that you speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com and share your good news! Perhaps one of God’s servants will pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue, your walk with Jesus. If you would like to read more of my devotionals, or subscribe for a daily email containing each new devotional, please go online to NuggetsFromGodsWord.org. Friends, please allow me to encourage you to find a church home nearby your home and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider being a part of that, while also growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!