Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathaniel and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathaniel asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. - John 1:44-46 NIV
I have been to places that I just think look desolate and hopeless. Not necessarily a city, but parts of cities and neighborhoods. The buildings are in disrepair, addiction and crime have taken over, and the life just seems to be sucked out of the space. I'm not sure if that is what Nazareth was like, but that's the picture I get in my head when I read Nathaniel's response.
I think we all have times in our lives that we resemble my mental picture of Nazareth. We are in such a dark place, we can't imagine anything good coming from us in this place. Maybe it's addiction, or shame, or an infidelity, or deceit, or some other vice the enemy is using to hold us back. He whispers in our ears, "You're not good enough"
"That good stuff is for good people, you're not one of them."
"You'll never amount to anything"
All of them lies! Then he says the first accurate thing, "You can't do it!"
The enemy is right. You can't do it on your own. In fact trying to do it on our own gets us into this place of dispair. But you can do it with God.
After a short interaction with Jesus, Nathaniel says, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel" (John 1:49) and he followed Him. He realized that despite what he thought of the place Jesus came from, there was good in him, an ultimate good.
Jesus invites each if to leave the desolate and hopeless places and change the world. We can't do it on our own, but in Him we can do all things.
I can do all this through Him who gives me strength. - Philippians 4:13 NIV
Be blessed and be a blessing,
Matt
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