Do you ever find yourself wanting to study God’s word, but think to yourself, where do I even begin? Maybe you think about serving God and getting involved in church, but feel lost, overwhelmed, find yourself procrastinating, or feeling hopeless. You are not alone. Through the blog, myhopeingod.com, you can find encouragement and inspiration as we all work on building our relationships with God. We can come here and share our stories, struggles, celebrate our growth and blessings, request prayer, and offer our support to each other. Let’s start by looking at how Jesus began his ministry.
Do You Know the Words That Jesus Began His Ministry With?
He began his ministry with the words, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Matthew 4:17 NIV
I will give some context here. Before this, John the Baptist had prepared the way for Jesus to preach in all of Judea ( Matthew 3: 1-12 NIV). Think of what it means to prepare. To prepare is to make something ready for use. John had to prepare the crowds of people to meet Jesus. He was preaching to the people about repentance preparing the way for Jesus to come and speak to them. It was through John’s obedience to the calling on his life that was foretold in Isaiah 40 1-8 that prophecy was being fulfilled.
Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. As soon as Jesus rose from the water, heaven was opened and he saw the spirit of God coming down like a dove and alighting in him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3: 13-17 NIV
Jesus is Tempted in the Wilderness
Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness where he is tempted by the devil for forty days and nights. Each time the devil tempted Him, Jesus responded to him with the written word of God. The devil had to flee Jesus (Matthew 4 NIV). The word of God is too powerful for the devil. It is the one weapon he can’t stand up against. Jesus was demonstrating to us how to handle spiritual warfare. In other words, how we can arm ourselves with the word of God before the devil tries to tempt us? We can be ready and recognize when the devil is trying to bring us down and keep us focused on the things of the world. When we are tempted with sinful desires that the world offers, we as believers and followers of Christ, can recognize that this is spiritual warfare and respond with God’s word as it is written. We can quote the words that Jesus used to respond to the devil, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.” The devil knows how powerful God’s word is. He is hoping he can fool us and distract us from seeing the power in God’s word. After facing several temptations that the devil tried to deceive Jesus with, the angels, God’s messengers, came and attended him (Matthew 4:11 NIV). Jesus’ ministry begins in Galilee.
Putting Your Faith in God
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16 NKJV
It is my prayer that you will come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ if you do not know him as Lord and Savior. Invite him into your heart and life. Spend time with him, confess and repent of any sin He reveals to you. Profess your faith in him. Get to know him. He will show you just how much He loves you and knows you better than you know yourself. God wants you to trust in him and find hope in Him. When you face trials, He wants you to know He loves you! He is with you and for you. Will you let God be the source of your peace, strength, and comfort? Decide to let God be glorified in you and through you. God wants to give you hope.
And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:5 NIV
Let’s all help each other discover the hope we have in God. How can we support each other as we move closer to God?
