Are You The One?
This Is My Son
The messages that come from God's chosen are preserved in Scripture to protect individuals from public opinion and doubt, empowering them to walk fully in their blessing.
God deliberately chooses individuals (such as John the Baptist and Jesus Christ) to prepare people for their blessings. Because these messengers were often rejected or doubted, God's message remains fully preserved within the scriptures to ensure nothing keeps us from our blessing and calling.
By anchoring its mission entirely in the truth of Scripture,
TheGoodNewsCast.com steadfastly walks the narrow path that leads away from the shifting pressures of public opinion and disbelief. Choosing to fully believe in the One whom God has chosen, this ministry embraces its blessing of eternal life. With a heart filled with deep gratitude, it lifts its voice in unceasing praise to God, rejoicing in the mercy that preserved the messages in the Scriptures as spoken through His chosen prophets and Jesus Christ, who prepared the way.
"And this is the wisdom of God, that these things should be preserved, for behold, they have convinced many of the error of their ways and brought them to the knowledge of their God unto the salvation of their souls (Alma 37:8)."
Throughout Scripture, we see that God chooses individuals to prepare His people for a blessing. Sometimes they reject these chosen messengers, yet God, in His mercy, has preserved His message within the scriptures so that nothing can keep them from receiving it.
The biblical account involving King Herod Antipas, the religious elites, John the Baptist, and ultimately Jesus Christ illustrates the harm that can come from not believing in God’s chosen messengers.
John openly detested Herod’s unlawful marriage to Herodias, so Herod wanted to execute him. However, Herod hesitated, opting to keep him in prison because "he feared the crowd, since they regarded John as a prophet."
Herod’s capitulation to external pressure came during his birthday banquet. Trapped by an oath and the watchful eyes of his high-society dinner guests, Herod ordered John’s execution.
When Jesus asked the religious leaders whether John's baptism was from heaven or of human authority, they were unable to respond. They reasoned that if they said "from heaven," Jesus would expose they were lying by asking, "Then why didn't you believe him?" Conversely, they feared claiming it was of human authority because the crowd held that John was a prophet.
Though Herod and the Sanhedrin were not swayed by public opinion, their actions showed that they did not believe God chose John.
Jesus did not ask why they didn't believe the crowd. He asked why they didn’t believe John.
The crowd believed John was a prophet because they were swayed by public opinion, while Herod and the religious leaders didn’t believe that he was the one God chose.
Essentially, Herod, the religious leaders, and the crowd did not believe God chose John, so they were unprepared to receive the blessing God had planned for them through John.
Jesus, on the other hand, was not swayed by public opinion and believed that John was God’s chosen and demonstrated that belief by being baptized by John himself. Today, Jesus fulfills the work of John, and God says this about Jesus, "This is My Son whom I love. He pleases Me. Listen to Him."
The scriptures preserve the truth in all matters of life. They protect us from the harmful dynamics of disbelieving in the One God chose and protect us even when we are swayed by public opinion. They preserve the message, the calling, and the blessing that was made specifically for us the moment we believe.
Tragically, even John the Baptist struggled with this while languishing in prison. When stories of Jesus’ miracles reached him, John knew the scriptures that declared Jesus to be God’s chosen. And in that moment of doubt, he relied on his followers to go and question Jesus, looking for affirmation rather than believing the scriptures.
The Book of Acts provides a powerful contrast. In Acts 12, King Herod Agrippa arrested Peter because he was moved by public opinion. Peter, however, was given a message regarding Jesus, and unlike John, Peter believed the message, and it freed him to continue in his calling and in his blessing.
We see this same supernatural freedom erupt in Acts 16. Paul and Silas were stripped, beaten, and thrown into the depths of a prison, yet they sang hymns praising God. When a violent earthquake shook the prison foundations, the terrified jailer fell at their feet and asked, "Gentlemen, please tell me, what must I do to be liberated?" Their answer: "Just believe—believe in Jesus."
Jesus warned, "Blessed are those who understand what is afoot and stay on my narrow path."
TheGoodNewsCast.com invites you to take a moment and ask yourselves, who is preparing you to walk in your calling and in your blessing: the crowd, the religious elite, or the one whom God chose?
Regardless of who it is, when you accept the messages preserved within scriptures, you walk the narrow path and are free from the harmful effects that come from disbelief or public influence. So walk in the blessing God chose for you and just... believe.